To Love The Unwanted
by rlassie
Summary: Hermione and Rosie grew up together, faced magic, Hogwarts and the war together, sisters in everything but blood. What happens when the unthinkable happens and they choose to abandon everything and everyone they know? AU HG/FW GW/OC T for slight language and subtle themes.
1. Chapter 1

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn.

Chapter One.

This really wasn't the way our live were supposed to turn out. Not that any of us really had much of a plan or anything, apart from Hermione, but I'm sure that if I somehow managed to make a time turner work longer than just a few hours, went back to when I, Rosalyn Anna Parker, was a kid and asked her what she wanted to do with her life, her answer certainly wouldn't of been this. I'm not sure her imagination would have been big enough to dream up the situations my friends and I have been in over the last few years. Fighting, fleeing, screaming in pain and terror, watching friends and loved ones die. All apparently for this. Our so called "happy ending". Yeah, sure, we had completed our mission, Harry had succeeded and Voldermort was dead. All of the rest of the death eaters were slowly being rounded up and people were cautiously coming out of hiding and starting to live their lives again. But if all the bad times were now over, why was I sitting in Hermione, Ginny and my room at the Burrow, holding my best friends hand, while she's sitting here crying and agonising, trying to make the hardest decision she has ever had to make in her life?

It had all started when Hermione missed her period. Of course that wasn't when the whole thing started. THAT started years ago before any of us were even born. It's funny to think (in a horrifying sort of way) that if Voldermort had made that one simple decision differently all those years ago, my friends and I may have had an easier life. Ok maybe not easier. But different anyway. But he didn't, Harry was the one he chose and all our lives spiralled out on the course they did because of it. A simple decision and the years at school that should have been only full of learning, happiness, drama and love were instead mainly full of suspicion, horror and disbelief. Especially these last few months. Which of course brings me back to the here and now. And the missed period.

I don't think she even noticed at first. A lot of pretty major things had happened in the weeks beforehand, what with all the funerals we had had to attend. Professor Lupin's and Tonk's funerals being the most important ones. And then there was Fred. For a while there, no one was sure if he was going to make it or not. When we weren't out trying to clean up the mess left from the war, Hermione sat by his bedside constantly. We even had a hard time getting her to take some time out to eat and sleep, which she desperately needed. It had only been a couple of weeks before that she had gone through the ordeal an Malfoy Manor and only I truly knew what had gone on within those walls. Sure, Harry and Ron were in the dungeon at the time and they heard her screaming but they weren't in the room with her like I was, so they didn't know what had really happened once her voice gave out. And as far as Hermione was concerned they never would. No one ever would. So it wasn't until Fred woke up and things started getting back to normal that she started paying attention to herself again. And once she did, she started noticing weird things, like her boobs suddenly going up a cup size and feeling insanely queasy every morning. Oh and the period thing as well. Being the smart girl that she is, she put two and two together and came up with the obvious answer. Hey, nobody calls her the brightest witch of her age for nothing.

She did manage to hide it for a while at first. From everyone but me that is. I mean come on, I grew up with the girl. We are as close as sisters, had even been raised that way. Did she really think I wasn't going to notice that something was clearly tearing my best friend apart? I thought at first she was dwelling on things best left undwelled on, especially if she wasn't going to tell anyone or let me tell anyone. But then I noticed that her physical state wasn't getting any better either. She wasn't gaining back any of the weight she had lost and she seemed to be spending an extremely large amount of time in the bathroom in the mornings. But I did leave her to it for a little while, knowing that if she really wanted to talk about it, she knew where to find me. It wasn't until she came down to breakfast one morning looking like Crookshanks had dragged her through a gorse bush backwards, that I decided I had had enough. She was basically skin and bone and the bags under her eyes were big enough to stable a horse in. But it was the mask she was wearing that made me decide to do something. Her face looked eerily blank and her eyes were almost manically calm. She looked like that if she didn't get whatever was bothering her off her chest very very soon, she would fall apart and maybe not put herself back together again. I was so not going to let that happen. Not with all the hard work she had accomplished bringing herself back after the war and the Manor in particular. Completely fed up with the hiding and pretending she was doing, I grabbed her hand and Apparated us away without a single word.

I took us to the only place I knew of where we might get some privacy. The attic of the Burrow. None of the men in the family came up here because it was widely known that the ghoul that inhabited the attic didn't like males. And Mrs Weasley tended to forget about the place. I reckon this was deliberate so that she didn't have to think about the mess that also inhabited the room. You know, outta sight, outta mind type of thing. But anyway, since no one came up here and the ghoul didn't seem to mind females I was pretty sure we wouldn't get interrupted. As soon as our feet touched the attic floor, Hermione pulled away from me and looked around in confusion.

"What are we doing here? Why did you take us away from breakfast? I was hungry!"

I snorted. Now that was a lie if I'd ever heard one. Sure the girl might fill her plate up with food, but she certainly wouldn't eat it. She would probably just end up only taking a couple of bites and pushing the rest of it around her plate.

"We're here because I've had enough of the way you have been acting lately. It's not healthy and I'm sick of it." She looked at me like I was mad.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on Mione, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're bottling something up and whatever it is, it's making you sick. I've stood by and watched you try to deal with it on your own for long enough." Hermione's eyes flitted all over the room, looking everywhere but at me.

"I have no idea what you're going on about. Now if you'll excuse me-" She started heading towards the door but I jumped in front of her, blocking her way.

" That holier than thou tone of yours may work on Ron but you forget that I've been listening to it all my life and it's never had any effect on me."

"Rosie…" she pleaded.

"That's not going to work either. I'm not moving till you tell me what wrong."

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Yes there is! I know you like the back of my hand Hermione. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? Please tell me what's wrong. It's something other than what happened during the war and the Manor- " She flinched and I immediately felt horrible for bringing it up, but I wasn't going to stop.

"-And it taking a major toll on you. I can see it and it won't be long before the others start to notice as well. Especially Fred, Harry and Ginny. Frankly I'm surprised they haven't already!"

"I..I.."

I stepped up closer to her and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Hermione look at me. Look at me! Whatever it is, you know that I'll be there for you right? I've been there through everything else, I'm not going to stop now."

Hermione bottom lip began to tremble and all at once it was as if the floodgates had opened. Her mask crumbled and her eyes filled with tears. I caught her as her legs gave way, bringing her into my arms on the attic floor.

"Oh god Rosie, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?"

We sat there for a long time, Hermione crying into my shoulder while I rubbed her back comfortably. I was glad she was finally letting it all out but at the same time the still unknown reason for her breakdown was scaring me a little. What could possibly be so bad that it would cause such a strong person like my cousin to fall apart like this? Considering that she hadn't even had this reaction after the Manor, and Merlin knows that was enough to break anyone. I had almost broken myself just watching it. Her cries slowly died down until she was only sniffling.

"Now are you going to tell me what wrong?"

Hermione sniffed a last time and pulled out of my embrace. She took a deep breath and looked at me.

"It's not really anything for you to worry about Rosie. It's my problem not yours."

"All your problems are my problems Mione. And all mine are yours. We're sisters. Or did you forget about the pact we made when we were seven?"

I held out my hand, showing her the faint scar from the knife we had used all those years ago to make ourselves sisters. She sighed and looked down at her own hand which sported an identical scar.

"No I didn't forget about it. It's just something that I need to deal with on my own-"

"Not bloody likely it's not! Stop being so bloody stubborn and just tell me! Don't make me hex it out of you! Because I will!"

"Hex it out of me? You wouldn't dare!"

"Wanna bet?" Come on Mione, it can't be that bad!" I decided to switch tactics. "I think your just being a drama queen as per usual. It probably isn't even all _that_ bad at all!"

"_Drama Queen?"_

"Yup that's you all right. Playing it up to get attention-"

"Why you… playing it up… attention…"

"You probably just lost your dairy or something. Just like the time back in primary school-"

"GOD DAMN IT ROSIE! I'M PREGNANT!"

Well. To tell you that shocked me stupid would be an understatement. My mouth hit the floor and I literally could not find a single thing to say for a good five minutes. I stared at Hermione, shocked to my core. I mean, I knew that her and Fred had gotten to that stage of their relationship. She had told me so herself. I had just thought that they had used a contraceptive charm. Of course, she hadn't actually told me that they had, I had just assumed. Hermione was incredibly responsible like that. Well at least I thought she was. I closed my eyes and tried to sort my swirling thought into some sort of order. Hermione looked at me, trying to gage my reaction. She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Pregnant? Are you sure?" Hermione sighed once again and got up and went to stand by the window.

"I'm positive. I've missed a least a couple of periods and I've been having morning sickness for weeks now." Ah so that explains the heaps longer than usual morning routine. Makes sense now.

"Bloody hell Hermione." She laughed weakly.

"Yeah that about sums it up."

"Have you told Fred? And why didn't you use the contraceptive charm? Thought you were more responsible than that!"

Hermione seemed to freeze for a second and then she slowly turned to face me.

"We did use it Rosie." I frowned and stood up, making my way over to her.

"Well obliviously you didn't otherwise you wouldn't be in this state now would you? Or did you not cast it correctly? That can't be right, you made sure you knew it upside down and backwards-" Hermione bit her lip and looked at the floor. She seemed to take a deep breath, lifted her head and looked at me.

"It's not Fred's Rosie" she said quietly.

I frowned once again. Not Fred's? What was she talking about? I knew that Fred was her first and she hadn't ever been with anyone else…

The truth hit me like a ton of bricks. It literally felt like all the wind had been knocked out of me. I gasped and looked at Hermione wildly, my eyes widening when I saw the conformation and the tears in hers. So I did the only thing I could think of. I threw my arms around her.

So here we are, back at the start again. Once I had settled myself down enough to be able to let Hermione go, we slowly made our way back to our room. We sat for a long time on her bed, not talking, each trying to deal with this new and either happy or horrific development. The silence was total, the only thing breaking it our breathing, until she suddenly turned towards me.

"I want to keep it." I gasped and looked at her.

"Keep it? Are you sure? It's a major responsibility."

"Yes I'm sure. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I can't blame the baby for… ah…" Her voice wobbled a bit before it firmed again. "For the way it was conceived. It wouldn't be right."

"But what about Fred? And the others? You're going to have to tell them something! Especially Fred!"

"Not if I go away I don't."

"Go away? What are you talking about? You can't just leave!"

"It's the only way! They'll want to know how this came about and I can't tell them Rosie! I just can't!"

"So you'll just go. Just like that. You'll break Fred's heart that easily?" Hermione grimaced, stood up and began to pace.

"You don't think I've thought of that?" she cried. "I know how everyone will react. They'll hate me, Fred especially! But their hate is better then their pity Rosie! I couldn't stand to see that look in Fred's eyes! I just couldn't! And what about the baby? How can I expect Fred to except a baby that isn't even his!"

I sighed and rubbed my face with my hands.

"I really don't think your giving Fred enough credit Mione. He loves you."

"I know he does but if he finds out about what happened to me, it'll break him Rosie. I know it will. He'll blame himself for not being able to protect me. And I'm afraid that whenever he looks at the baby, that so called failure will always rear its ugly head. I can't do that to him." She sat down on the bed again and put her head in her hands. "I just can't."

I stood up and went to stand by the window. Outside I could see Harry, Ginny, George and Ron out by the lake. Harry and Ginny were holding hands. It looked so peaceful. My eyes fell on George and my heart seemed to break a little as I stood there, watching him laugh at something Ron was doing. I knew what I had to do. I sighed and turned back to Hermione, missing when George turned towards the window, a frown on his face.

"You're sure about leaving? Not going to change your mind?"

"I'm sure Rosie."

"Well then, we best make some plans don't you think? Like when we're leaving and where we're going?"

"I've already started on that and… wait a minute. We? You're not coming with me."

"Oh yes I am. And you can't stop me Hermione Jean Granger. Because if you do I'll just tell everyone what you're up to. That'll put a stop to your plans."

"But… You can't just leave!"

"Why not? You seem to be able to. And I'm not letting you do this on your own. It's too big for one person to deal with."

"But…"

"No buts Mione. I'm coming and that's that."

She was silent for a while, just staring at me. She then suddenly threw her arms around me. Merlin, we must have giving a lifetimes worth of hugs to each other in the past couple of hours. She then pulled back, looked me in the eyes and quietly confessed to knowing the one thing I thought no one else had a clue about.

"But… but what about George?"


	2. Chapter 2

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn.

**Quick A/N – Ok guys so I haven't has any reviews for this story yet and I would really like some. Would love to know what everyone thinks. So please be kind (or not) and push the button at the bottom of the page. Look forward to hearing from you! Right, on with the story.**

_She was silent for a while, just staring at me. She then suddenly threw her arms around me. Merlin, we must have giving a lifetimes worth of hugs to each other in the past couple of hours. She then pulled back, looked me in the eyes and quietly confessed to knowing the one thing I thought no one else had a clue about._

"_But… but what about George?"_

Chapter Two.

My mouth fell open and I stared at her, shocked. Oh dear Godric, she can't possibly know can she? No one knew about that and I had tried my absolute hardest to keep it that way, same as I always had, ever since this stupid little crush had made itself known on the Hogwarts Express when I was eleven. Ok so maybe it might be a little more than a crush. Crushes really aren't this persistent. But whatever it is, I would still die of embarrassment if anyone, especially the person in question, ever found out about it. Because there was absolutely no way that he would ever feel the same way about me. I had hard proof of that. I took a deep breath and tried to school my face into an innocent expression, positive I wasn't succeeding very well.

"W…what are you talking about?" I spluttered. Hermione raised an eyebrow at me, amused.

"Come now Rosie, you really can't lie your way out of a cardboard box. I'm talking about all of the secret glances you send him when you think he's not looking and the way your eyes fill with a sort of longing whenever he's in the room. Oh, and the way you-" I groaned, dropped my head and raised my hand in a signal to stop.

"Ok, ok I get the picture already. Is it really that obvious?"

"Well it is to me as I've known you your whole life. And to Fred of course. He's definitely going to notice when someone's staring at his twin that way. And I think Harry and Ginny know as well, though I can't be sure as I haven't discussed it with them. But don't worry, I'm positive George doesn't have a clue." I sighed in relief.

"But you haven't answered my question Rosie. You know that if you come with me it will extinguish any chance of anything developing between the two of you. Do you really want that to happen?" I sighed and looked at her.

"Nothing's ever going to happen between us anyway so there's no need to even bring it into the equation."

"How do you know? Have you even giving it a chance? Told him how you feel? "

"No and I'm not going to either. He doesn't think of me that way. He doesn't think of me any way."

"But how can you be sure of that if-" I laughed bitterly and sat back down on the bed.

"I am sure of it Hermione. He said so. He doesn't even really like me. He thinks I'm dull and boring and he only hangs out with me because he has to, to be around everyone else." Hermione's eyes widened in shock.

"He said that? To your face? I'll kill him! Of all the mean, nasty, horrible things-"

"No no, he didn't say it to me. He said it to Fred. I'm paraphrasing of course but that's basically what was said. I just happened to be coming out of the bathroom next to their room when he said it and unfortunately I overheard. So I'm fine to come with you."

"When did this happen?"

"During the summer between fourth and fifth year."

"But that was years ago Rosie! He may have had a change of heart by now!"

"Oh believe me, he hasn't. You didn't hear the tone he used. He's not going to change his mind. And I wouldn't want him even if he did. I deserve more than that." Yeah right. Who was I trying to kid? I pushed that thought away, took her hand and squeezed it. "Not everyone is as lucky as you are Mione. And I'm ok with that. Really I am. Besides if I was with someone it would make what we're about to do all that much more difficult. I don't envy you trying to say goodbye to Fred."

She flinched slightly and got a determined look on her face.

"That's why we're not going to say goodbye. We're just going to go."

"What do you mean, not say goodbye? We can't! They'll think something has happened to us!"

"That's a chance we'll just have to take. Listen Rosie I've been thinking about this for a while now and I think it'll be easier this way. This way no one will try and stop us or come after us. Besides I believe it'll be better for everyone if we leave. We will be two less daily reminders of a period I'm sure everyone just wants to forget."

I looked at her in disbelief. Merlin she was really trying hard to convince herself wasn't she? But if that's the way she wanted it to go, than that was what we'd do. I wasn't going to stress her out any more than she already was. I would find a way to leave some sort of note though. She may have firmly been in a river in Egypt, but my head was still screwed on properly and I wasn't going to do that to Fred and everyone. Not with what we've all been through lately.

"So when do you want to leave then?" I asked. I was really not expecting the answer I got back.

"Early hours of tomorrow morning."

Dinner that night was the same as every other night at the Burrow. Loud and full of laughter. Fred had actually managed to slowly make his way downstairs and was now sitting at the table, as close to Hermione as he could get without actually sitting in her lap. From my position across from them I could tell they were holding hands under the table. It hurt my heart to see them that way and to know that this would properly be the last time they would be together. The two of them had gone through so much over the years. Fred had finally giving into his feelings during our third year and had asked her out. They then had to face Ron's anger and jealousy. Stupid git just couldn't seem to get it through his head that Hermione and him weren't meant to be together as he'd always thought. Once he'd seen how happy Fred was making her though, he'd slowly come round and excepted the Hermione thought of him as a brother and that they'd never be anything more than just friends. But then the war started to kick into full gear and Harry went through everything he had during our fourth year and of course, we had to be there for him. So Hermione didn't get to see Fred much as she would have liked. It also didn't help that Victor Krum seemed to have attached himself to her and wouldn't leave her alone, no matter how many times she told him she had a boyfriend. She was even used as Victors "thing you'll miss the most" during the second task. Hermione could have refused the request but being the type of person she is, she just couldn't say no. This seriously pissed Fred off and they broke up for a while over it. It was a hard time for Hermione and Victor was there for her during it. Because of this, Hermione ended up being Victors date to the Yule Ball which really sent Fred over the edge. The night ended with them having a major shouting match at each other in the corridor outside the Great Hall, which in turn lead to them having a major snogging session up against the corridor wall. It was that night that Hermione first told me that she loved him.

They went strong for a while after that but unfortunately Umbridge soon made them rocky again, especially when Fred told her that he and George were dropping out. She understood his reasonings eventually and even supported him in the end, but not before a few hurtful things were said. They didn't see each other for a while after he left, and during that time Hermione was a mess. I'm given to believe that Fred was as well. We all got sick of it in the end. Ron eventually owled his brother and asked him to come to the school under some sort of pretence and once he got there, we locked them both in the astronomy tower together saying we wouldn't let them out until they'd dealt with their problems. Hermione never really gave me too many details of what happened in that room for the two hours they were in there. She just said that they had talked a lot and Fred finally broke down and told her that he loved her. She of course said it back and everything was good again, as they had resolved never to let outside influences come between them again. So Fred was there for her when we went through the Department of Mysteries ordeal and then again when Dumbledore died. He even supported her when we went out on our Horcrux hunt, though he didn't know what it was about exactly. It was during the hunt, after Ron had come back and we were able to take a short break at the Weasley's Aunt Muriel's place that their relationship evolved. It certainly wasn't planned, Hermione would have told me if it had been, it apparently had just happened. She did know that it was getting closer to happening though, hence her knowing the contraception charm upside down and backwards.

She told me afterwards that the event had solidified her faith in our cause, knowing that something that beautiful could happen in a time so dark. I had thought she was a bit barmy saying something like that at the time, but with what happened at the Manor not two weeks later, I was extremely glad that she had had something else to cling to. I couldn't really judge her anyway as my own experience in that area had been a one-time thing and had most definitely not been anything to rave about. I had no clue what it was like between two people in love, so I just shut my mouth and let her bask. The Final Battle pretty much happened straight after that, marking the end of the war, and I had thought that maybe the two of them might actually get to have a chance at a normal relationship. But now, seeing the way Hermione clung to Fred, hidden tears in her eyes, it hit me that that was something that was never going to happen. These two would never have the happy ending that they deserved. I suddenly felt extremely angry. It bloody well wasn't fair! My fists clenched and I closed my eyes, trying to contain my anger.

"Hey Rosie, you ok?" I jumped at the voice so close to my ear, my anger disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. Looking to my left in surprise, I saw George looking at me with a concerned look on his face.

"Ah… yeah, sure George, I'm fine" I said, looking at the table quickly. Why did his eyes have to be so blue?

"Are you sure? You don't seem it. You looked a bit out of it there" he said quietly. By this time dinner had finished and everyone was making their way into the living room. George and I were the only ones left at the table.

"No I'm fine, I'm just tired I guess. I think I'll go to bed. Make excuses for me would you?" I stood up quickly and headed towards the stairs, wanting to get out of his presence as soon as possible. It hurt to look at him.

"Oh. Well ok then. Ah, have a good sleep I guess" he called after me. I snorted quietly. Like I was going to get any sleep tonight.

I had just reached the bottom of the stairs when I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see Fred slowly making his way over to me, leaning slightly against the wall for support. I hurried to his side and took his arm, lowering him down onto the bottom step.

"You really should be back in bed you know Fredster" I said. He smiled tiredly at the nickname I had given him during my first year.

"Yeah I know but I wanted to talk to you first. Have you found out what's wrong with Hermione?"

I froze in surprise and then chuckled silently. Should've known he would notice.

"Yeah I did but it's nothing major so don't you be worrying your pretty little head about it, Fred my man" I said. Merlin I hated lying. It was a good thing that Hermione was the only one who could pick up when I did. Fred frowned slightly up at me.

"Really? I could've sworn that something big was nagging at her."

"Nope nothing really, just a few nightmares. She'll get over them in time, you'll see. Now come on, time for bed for you." As I tugged him up and watched the relief flow over his face, I grimanced slightly, feeling like I'd stabbed him in the back. He really loved her. Oh dear Godric, tomorrow was going to be a horrid day for him.

"Well that's ok then, I thought I had done something wrong" he joked as I tried my best to help him up the stairs. Unfortunately being that I'm just a little thing, barely reaching past 5ft, it wasn't going very well. We had made it about quarter of the way up when I felt _his_ presence behind me.

"Come on now Freddie, I've got you" he said, throwing his arm around his twin and basically carrying him the rest of the way up. Once they got to their bedroom door, George turned his head and mouthed _thank you _to me. I smiled slightly in reply and George seemed to freeze there for a minute, just staring at me. Just when I was starting to get slightly uncomfortable, he shook his head, moved into the room and then they were gone, shut behind the closed door. I blinked and frowned slightly. What was that about? If it had been anyone else I would have said that he was interested in me. But since it wasn't, I shrugged it off and walked the rest of the way up to my room. I was just about to enter when I once again heard my name being called. This time I turned to see Harry and Ginny making their way towards me. They were holding hands again and I smiled sadly at the sight. I was glad that they had worked things out and were back together. They looked stronger than ever and I was pretty sure that a ring would be on the horizon sometime soon. Being the traditional couple that they are, it was the only place that they could end up really and it was depressing me slightly that I wouldn't be around to see it.

"Hey guys, how's it going" I said, leaning against my doorframe. "You coming to bed Ginny, or have you got better things to occupy your time with hmm?"

Ginny blushed and looked down while Harry just grinned and put his arm around her shoulder. The fact that he was incredibly proud that she was his girlfriend could not have been easier to see.

"No, we're going to go stay at Shell Cottage for a few days" Harry said. "Bill and Fleur are taking Victorie to Romania to visit Charlie and they wanted someone to house sit. Before we go though, we just thought we'd ask if you happened to find out what was wrong with Hermione?"

I smiled and a bubble of warmth burst in my chest. Even though I was standing here, about to lie to my friends once again, I was happy to know that they hadn't been as totally oblivious as I thought they had been. It was completely understandable if they had been, what with Fred still healing and Harry and Ginny so wrapped up in each other again. But I was glad I really hadn't been the only one to notice. I hadn't expected Ron to notice of course. That loveable prat wouldn't notice the nose that was on his face!

"She's fine, she's just having a few nightmares is all. You two go on and don't worry about her. I've got it all under control." Ginny grinned at me.

"Oh course you have, when have you ever not?" she said. "Well we'll go then but tell her that we're here if she needs us ok?" I assured them that I would and they turned in the air, Apperating away, giggling to each other. I sighed. I could definitely think a few times when things had gotten out of my control.

Hermione woke me up, shaking my shoulder at 4am the next morning. She put a finger to her lips, telling me to move quietly as I got out of bed. She gathered up our already packed bags as I got dressed and I couldn't help but notice that her bed hadn't been slept in. She must have spent her last night with Fred. I was glad that she had given him something to remember her by. We slowly made our way out of the room and down the stairs. We had considered just Apperating out of the room but to do that we would have had to put up a silencing charm, which would leave a lot of magic residue in the room, probably enough to track us by. So we had decided to go out to the Quiddish pitch in the back yard and Apperate from there. We had just gotten to the front door when I suddenly remembered the charm I had decided to cast before we left. I pulled Hermione to a halt and told her I had forgotten something, which I had, so it wasn't a lie and she didn't pick up on it. She nodded and told me she would meet me out at the pitch. I made my way back into the kitchen, took out my wand and cast the charm. It wasn't a very complicated charm, wouldn't leave all that much residue behind, so I felt confident in doing it. It consisted of mainly keeping a note concealed until a certain phrase was said, thereby revealing it. In this case the phrase was "Where are they?" This would allow the note to appear in whichever room the phrase was said it, floating in the air so it wouldn't be missed. I had found the charm in one of Mrs Weasleys housewitch books a few years ago and thought that it might come in handy one day. Never thought I'd use it for a situation like this though. Once the charm was cast I made my way out the door and over to the pitch, stopping once to turn around and look at the house. I'd had so many good times in this home. I was seriously going to miss it and the people within it as well. I sighed and turned away, walking over to stand by Hermione. She put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze, knowing exactly what I was going through.

"So where are we going anyway? You never did tell me" I said.

"I think it's time to go find my parents. Our parents." I smiled at her, glad she had included me.

"So Australia it is then?"

"Yes, Australia it is then" she said. We turned on the spot, and with a loud _crack_ we were gone.

Back in the kitchen the note that I had charmed shimmered on the counter top before slowly fading from sight. The words written on it would give no indication of where we were going but I did hope that they might help give everyone some peace.

_This was the only way that she could see. I'm sorry. But please don't worry. We will be back. I'll make sure of it._


	3. Chapter 3

To Love The Unwanted

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn and now, Tabitha.

Chapter Three.

"_So where are we going anyway? You never did tell me" I said._

"_I think it's time to go find my parents. Our parents." I smiled at her, glad she had included me._

"_So Australia it is then?"_

"_Yes, Australia it is then" she said. We turned on the spot, and with a loud crack we were gone._

_Back in the kitchen the note that I had charmed shimmered on the counter top before slowly fading from sight. The words written on it would give no indication of where we were going but I did hope that they might help give everyone some peace._

_**This was the only way that she could see. I'm sorry. But please don't worry. We will be back. I'll make sure of it.**_

_Seven Years Later_

A loud shriek echoed through the apartment as I quietly closed the front door and I grinned to myself, wandered what the youngest member of the household had done this time. As I made my way towards the kitchen, I caught a flash of her hair out the corner of my eye, the deep cherrywood mahogany brown colour flying across the room as she tried to escape whichever punishment her rampaging mother deemed fair. I darted towards the door, getting to it just before she did, folded my arms and raised my eyebrow. She grinned at me then raised her hands in a prayer like gesture, asking me silently to let her hook just this once. I shook my head and pointed, inwardly amused at the exaggerated pout the crossed her face before she turned around and slowly headed towards, in her mind, her doom. Pushing through the kitchen door right behind her, it took all of my control not to burst out laughing. Hermione stood in the middle of the kitchen, completely covered from head to toe in flour. The cupboard above her stood open and going by the broken flour bag that lay on the floor beside her, I'm guessing that the culprit had deliberately leaned the bag against the cupboard door so that it would fall as soon it was opened. Pretty smart for a six year old in my opinion, but with her being Hermione Granger's daughter, that was pretty much to be expected.

"You in so much trouble young lady. Not only have you wasted a whole bag of flour, you've made a huge mess all over the floor. _And_ after I spent the last hour scrubbing it! Just what were you thinking?" The young girl shifted from foot to foot, her gaze on the floor.

"I'm sorry mommy" she whispered. "I just thought it would be funny, is all." Privately I agreed with her. It was funny.

"You thought it would be funny? This is not funny. This is a major mess that you, little missy, are going to clean up all by yourself. And after that you can go up to your room and stay there until bedtime." Shocked chocolate brown eyes shot up to her mother's face and a whine rang through the room.

"Aww but mommy, you said I could watch that movie tonight!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you pulled this little stunt now should've you? Now go get the mop and bucket out of the washroom please. I'm going to go clean up and I want this floor spick and span by the time I get back down." I watched, amused, as the tiny troublemaker sighed and headed out the door towards the laundry. Turning towards Hermione, I couldn't stop a giggle from escaping as she stood there, looking like her hair and skin had been scrubbed in bleach. She whipped her head around and stared at me, clearly not sharing my humour.

"This is your fault you know" she said, frowning.

"My fault? How is it my fault? I'm not the one who came up with the idea!"

"You may as well have. Telling her all those stories about the twins. You made their pranks sound so interesting that she just couldn't help trying out a few of her own!"

"Oh come on Hermione, it's just a little flour! It'll wash out. And you have to admit, it was quite an intelligent little plan. Especially for one so young. You should be a least a little bit proud." Hermione sniffed, crossed her arms and pouted slightly, looking remarkably like her daughter had not five minutes before. But her hard stance broke as she ran hand through her hair, spraying flour in all directions, and as she watched the cloud settle around her, the pride that I had afore mentioned shone briefly in her eyes.

"Yeah it was pretty well thought out wasn't it?" she smirked.

"Very much along the lines of what the twins would come up with I'd say" I said, grinning at her. "Now go take that shower, your just making an even bigger mess by standing there. I'll supervise the cleanup."

"Thanks I think I will. It's going to take ages to get this stuff out of my hair." She headed towards the stairs, flour trailing behind her as she went. She got to the top just as the kitchen door swung open again and the cleaning bucket was dragged in. Turning around she fixed her daughter with a stern glare.

"Remember Winnie, not a single bit of white left by the time I get back. Spick and span understand?" Tabitha Winnifred Rosalyn Granger sighed once again, looked at her mother, nodded and pulled the bucket towards the largest pile. Satisfied that her instructions would be followed, Hermione climbed the rest of the way up to the bathroom and the shower that would hopefully return her to her normal colour.

Later that night I was heading towards the large library that our apartment sported when I heard and soft thud coming from Winnie's room. As it was nine at night and she should have been asleep by now, I quietly opened her door and by the light of the torch that was lying beside her, I watched as she quickly pulled the top half of her body back up onto her bed, book in hand, and shot a guilty look towards me. I raised my eyebrow at her and she grinned sheepishly.

"Good book then is it?" I asked and she nodded her head vigorously. "Well then you'll just have to anticipate reading it tomorrow little minx because you should be in bed asleep."

She sighed, closed her book and crawled under the covers. I tucked her in neatly, brushed her hair out of her eyes and gently kissed her forehead. Saying goodnight, I was heading out of the room when her voice stopped me.

"Aunt Rosie?" Turning back I watched as she snuggled down with her teddy bear Bubbles and yawned widely.  
"Yes Winnie?"

"Mommy's not really angry at me is she? It was just a little joke. I really did think it would be funny." I sighed and went and sat on the end of her bed.

"Oh course she's not sweetie. She was just a little annoyed because she'd just cleaned the kitchen floor. You could have picked a better time you know. Like before she did her weekly cleaning maybe?" She smiled, relieved and looked at me.

"Did _you_ think it was funny Aunt Rosie?" she asked cheekily. I grinned back and leaned down towards her.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked in a stage whisper. She nodded eagerly.

"I thought it was very funny. The way your mother looked bathed in flour? Utterly priceless." She giggled quietly and I ruffled her hair.

"Now go sleep Tabby Cat. It's a school day tomorrow." I said and she smiled sleepily at the personal nickname I had for her. Pulling Bubbles towards her she closed her eyes and buried herself down in the bed. I picked up the book, noting that it was a book more designed for a ten year old then a six, placed it on the windowsill where she could see it in the morning and grabbed the torch on the way out. She looked like she was heading off to the land of nod but you never know. Her soft sleepy voice stopped me once again as I went to close the door.

"I love you Aunt Rosie." I smiled softly at my goddaughter, love swelling inside me. I was so incredibly blessed to have this amazing little girl in my life.

"I love you too Tabby Cat. So much" I said as I pulled the door closed.

In bed that night my mind reflected on exactly how the three of us had ended up where we were now. Not everything had gone as Hermione had originally planned. Yes, we had headed to Australia but we hadn't stayed there very much longer than it took to find the Grangers. Of course that did take us a while, as the spell we had used on them completely erased anyone and everything from their old life and replaced it with a completely new one which we knew nothing about. But find them we eventually did (magic really comes in handy sometimes) and we set about reversing the spell. This was a hell of a lot harder than we thought it would be. Their new life was really solidly dug in there. We didn't give up though, and the spell was reversed eventually, but with a lot more consequences than we thought would happen. It seems that I youf make adjustments to a person's mind as deeply as we did, and leave it for so long before adjusting it back, it leaves, shall we say, holes in the original memory that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't fill in. And the major hole in both my Aunt and Uncle's mind was, unfortunately, me.

According to their altered recollections, they did had a daughter, but they had never adopted me. To them, my mother, Aunt Jean's twin sister, and my father were never killed in a plane crash when I was three. Yes they were married, but they were living in France and didn't even have a child. As Aunt Jean's sister was doing exactly that that in their created life, we figured that the fact had bled through to the original life and got stuck. And trying to convince them that this wasn't true just seemed to upset them greatly so it made me being around them slightly awkward. Add in the fact that, as well as being angry at what we had done to them, in their last original memory of Hermione she hadn't been pregnant and when we were finally able to reverse the spell and they remembered who she was, she was five months along and showing greatly… well it wasn't a very joyous reunion to say the least. We hung around a month or so before it all became too hard for everyone, me especially, and we decided to move on. Hermione still emails them every once in a while and they talk to their granddaughter weekly, but I have no relationship with either Aunt Jean or Uncle Richard. I try not to think about it. It hurts too much if I do. After we left them, we decided to make a completely new start. Neither of us were really all that bigger fans of Australia and with all the wand work we had to do to reverse the spell, we were positive that we could be traced. I had always wanted to see America and New York in particular so I suggested we go there and Hermione agreed. It was hard at first, being a foreigner in a different country and since we had decided to avoid using magic as much as possible, going back to the muggle way of life was an adjustment as well. But we managed it and six and a half years later, we were still here. Winnie was officially an American citizen. I still held out the hope that maybe she might become an English one as well one day. She needs to know her roots, her mother's ones at least anyway, which is the reason I tell her so many stories about our old life. She know that we are witches, what our wands are and what they are used for and that she'll become one as well when she gets older. We weren't hiding that from her so I figured that if she knew that, I could tell her about the twins and Harry and Ginny and Ron and all the rest. She'd find out about them eventually when she went to school anyway. Hermione was reluctant at first. I think listening to me tell those stories brought back painful memories, especially the ones about Fred. I could understand what she was going through, as talking about George wasn't my favourite thing to do either, but I really thought it was important that Winnie know these people as much as she could, and eventually Hermione agreed. So Winnie's bedtime stories contained all the adventures that her mother and I had got up to in school and the people that went through them with us. The good ones anyway. I left all the dark stuff out as I thought she was too young and learning about it in school would be soon enough. The school she would eventually end up going to was still up in the air, but deep in my heart I knew where the best place for her was. The only place that would accept her if her origins ever got out. The place that I had spent the best and the worst years of my life at. Hogwarts. But for that to happen, we had to go back to England. And I'm not her mother. Hermione is.

Life travelled along at that pace for a while, Hermione working as an assistant at a law firm and me behind the counter at a book store. The place I work at is a cute wee shop, tucked back off the road, which didn't have too many customers but still has its regulars. It reminded me a lot of Florish & Blotts which was the reason I first went in when I saw the Help Wanted sign. Originally I went in for Hermione, thinking that it would be a perfect place for her to work, what with her being a major bookworm and all, but she turned me down when I suggested it. Said it bought back too many memories. So when they rang her for an interview, I asked if I could apply instead. I love the place really. It didn't pay much but the joy I feel when I walk in that door every morning more than makes up for it. Florish & Blotts had been one of my favourite places to visit when I was a teenager so I was thrilled to find some place so much like it in my new life. I'm no way near as big a book worm as my cousin is but I do enjoy to curl up with a good book every once in a while, plus I absolutely love the smell of them. So when I walk into that store and breath in the smell that all books have in common, I'm happy. Hermione quite likes her job as well. Finds it quite challenging, helping lawyers to help the public. I think it suits her down to the ground. She's always liked to help people. So anyway, our lives were moving along at a steady pace, everyone happy at what they were doing, when the fates decided to throw us a curveball. And a major one at that.

It was a pretty typical Monday morning when things started to get shaken up a bit. Hermione had just dropped Winnie off at school and was dropping me off next before heading to the firm. As I walked in the door and breathed in that scent, I was prepared for a fairly normal day. Boy was I wrong. The morning was pretty quiet, I had a shipment of new books to sort and shelf, which I was just starting to do when the bell above the door went off, letting me know I had a customer. Calling out that I would be with them in a minute, I quickly put the books I was holding away and moved into the front room. I didn't see anyone at first but after looking around a bit, I noticed I slender female perusing the guidebook section in the far corner of the store. Stepping around the counter I made my way over to her.

"Excuse me, may I be off any assistance?" I asked. The women continued searching for a second, than nodded her head and turned towards me, her mouth open to speak. I never did get to find out what she was looking for, because as soon as I saw her face, I froze. Even though her hair was covered up with a hat, I knew instantly that it I could see it, it would be a bright fiery red. I would know her anywhere. For the first time in seven years, Ginny Weasley was standing in front of me.

I wasn't the only one who was frozen in shock. When she saw me, Ginny's eyes popped head and her mouth fell open. We both stood there for a second, staring at each other, before Ginny squealed (only way I can describe it) and threw her arms around me.

"Rosie! Oh my god! It's you! Oh I'm so happy to see you! Where have you been? How are you? Are you ok? We've all been so worried! How's Hermione? Is she with you?" Ginny's words ran together in a fast jumble, making it almost impossible for me to understand her. I pulled out of her tight embrace and laughing, put my hand over her mouth, halting her rushed speech.

"Calm down Ginny, I can only answer one question at a time" I said. Stepping away from her, I went over to the door and turned over the Closed for Lunch sign hanging on it before closing and locking the door. This was going to take a while and I didn't want to be interrupted. I knew Ginny wouldn't be satisfied without some sort of explanation. Frankly I couldn't blame her. I then went over and grabbed Ginny's hand, pulling her into the back room where the staff sat and had morning and afternoon tea. Thankfully I was the only one on at the moment. Another staff member was due till this afternoon. We sat down and Ginny folded her arms on the table and looked at me.

"Well? Are you going to answer my questions? Have you been here all along? Where's Hermione? And why did you leave? Do you have any idea what that did to everyone?" she demanded. I sighed. This wasn't going to be pretty.


	4. Chapter 4

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn and Tabitha (Winnie)

**Quick A/N – A special shout out to AnnaRavenheart for being my first ever reviewer and then Mareeweasley7 for following right along behind her. Thanks guys! You really made me smile! Keep those reviews coming everyone! And now once again, on with the story!**

Chapter Four.

_We sat down and Ginny folded her arms on the table and looked at me._

"_Well? Are you going to answer my questions? Have you been here all along? Where's Hermione? And why did you leave? Do you have any idea what that did to everyone?" she demanded. I sighed. This wasn't going to be pretty. _

Walking into the apartment that evening, I experienced for the first time ever, what it felt like to dread coming home. If there was any possible way that I could avoid having this conversation with Hermione, I would have taken it without a second thought. But Ginny has made herself very clear, she wasn't going anywhere until she had seen and heard for herself that Hermione was ok. She had seen me, now she needed to see Hermione. It seemed taking my word for it wasn't enough either, she had to see her with her own eyes. Not that I blamed her. If I hadn't heard a single thing from someone that I loved for seven years straight, I would need visual confirmation of their existence as well. I just really wasn't looking forward to explaining this to Hermione. I knew that once she got over her shock of hearing that someone from our past had shown up out of nowhere, she would be excited to see Ginny. It would be getting her past the fear of introducing Winnie and maybe having to explain her origins that would be the hard part. As I hung my coat up on the coat hanger by the door, I could hear the TV playing some cute little jingle and Winnie's childish laughter accompanying it. Entering the living room, I saw Winnie lying on the couch, half her body hanging off it as she watched a movie before dinner. Satisfied that she would be occupied for a while and wouldn't come wandering in and interrupting my dreaded conversation with her mother, I went into the kitchen. Hermione was standing at the counter, cutting up vegetables, quietly singing along to a song on the radio. I smiled inwardly. At least she wasn't in a bad mood. Hopefully that will make this a little easier. She turned towards me as she heard the door open and gave me a welcoming smile.

"Hey Rosie, good day? Hope you're hungry. I'm making Roast Vegetable Lasagne for dinner" she all but sang. Wow. She really was in a good mood. I grinned at her.

"You know me, I'm always hungry. And the little hoover in the next room will motor it down anyway if I don't." Hermione laughed.

"You can say that again. Only person I've ever seen eat as much as she does is Ron. And he's a guy!" I grinned again, remembering times when the two of us had sat in the Great Hall, watching Ron in disgust as he had ploughed through plate after plate of food.

"So what's got you in such a good mood then?" I asked.

"Oh nothing really, just that its summer, the sun is shining, birds are singing and Mr Brooker finally won his case today, that's all" she said with a wide smile.

"What? Really? Mione that's fantastic! I'm so happy for you!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her excitedly. I knew that this case had been playing on Hermione's mind for months now and not being able to help those poor little boys stay with the person that loved them had really been getting her down. To finally win it, after so long and so much effort must have been a thrilling accomplishment.

"So that's why you're going all out for dinner then? A celebration of sorts?"

"Yeah for start off and then I picked up a nice little bottle of red for when Winnie's in bed if you're interested?"

"Sound's good to me. But before you go any further, do you want to sit down for a sec? Got something I want to talk to you about." Hermione smiled at me in confusion and sat down at the table.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, nothing's wrong. At least I don't think there is. I think it's a good thing actually. Maybe one of the best things to happen to us in years. And I'm sure you'll agree. Well maybe not at first but-"Hermione put her hand over mine, stopping my nervous babbling.

"Rosie your rambling. You never ramble. Are you sure you're ok? Did something happen at work today?" she asked worriedly. I laughed humourlessly.

"Yeah you could say that. Umm, I actually ran into someone today. Someone I haven't seen in a while."

"Oh? Who?"

"Ok please don't freak out on me over this. I had no control over it, she just showed up at the shop. I didn't even know who she was until she turned around and-"

This time Hermione grabbed my arm and squeezed it, once again putting a halt on my confusing jumble of words.

"Rosie come on, you're killing me here! Who was it already?"

I took a deep breath and looked her dead in the eye. It was now or never.

"It was Ginny, Hermione. Ginny Weasley."

The silence in the kitchen after my statement was like a bomb, dropping out of nowhere and exploding over everything, completely covering the room. Through it I could vaguely hear Winnie giggling at her movie, oblivious to the shocked speechless state her mother was currently in. I peered at Hermione anxiously and took her limp hands in mine.

"Hermione? Are you ok?" I asked hesitantly. I knew that my news would shock her but I hadn't expected her reaction to be this bad.

"Hermione?" I asked again. My voice seemed to finally get through to her and she shook her head, clearing away the cloud of disbelief she was hovering in.

"Ah, yeah, I'm ok I think" she rasped. I smiled in relief.

"Good. You scared me for a second there."

Hermione gave me a shaky smile and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Sorry. It's, ah, just a shock I guess. Ginny's here? And you saw her?"

"Ah huh. She came into the shop today. As I said, I didn't even recognise her at first."  
"What is she doing here? Did she know that you worked there before she went in?"

"I don't think so. She looked as shocked as I felt when she saw me. Then she started bombarding me with questions. Where had we been, why did we go, where you were. I couldn't get a word in edge wise." Hermione was looking more and more alarmed with every word I said.

"What did you tell her?" she demanded.

"As little as I possibly could, don't worry. Just that we were living together, here, and apart from a few months in Australia, had been since we left. It didn't put her off though. She's going to need more answers than that. They all are once this gets back to them."  
"So there's no one else here? It's just her?"  
"Yeah I think it's just her. We didn't really get into it. She was more interested in interrogating me."

"So you didn't mention a thing about Winnie?" she said.

"Oh course I didn't. That's up to you, not me. And you're going to have to say something you know. Because she isn't going to be happy till she sees you." Hermione looked at me eagerly.

"Maybe you can just put her off for a while? Maybe until she leaves?" I gasped, horrified.

"Hermione Jean Granger! I'm ashamed of you! This is one of our best friends we're talking about here who we've had absolutely no contact with for seven years! You can't just blow her off! How can you even think that?" She had the decently to looked ashamed.

"Yeah ok, I know, I didn't mean it. Not really anyway. It'll be good to see her. But what about Winnie? What do I tell her about Winnie?"

"Whatever you want to tell her. The truth if you want" Hermione lost all colour as I said this. "Or not. She won't judge you, you know. She isn't like that. None of them are."

"Yeah I do know that. I just… well you know. Maybe I'll just deal with that when we come to it. " Ok yes, I did know. I got up and went and crouched beside her chair, giving her a silent hug of support.

"Sounds like a good idea. So you're happy to see her then?" I asked quietly. She sighed and nodded.

"Good because she'll be here in an hour" I said with a cheeky grin. Where before there was complete silence, now Hermione's ranting filled the kitchen for at least the next ten minutes.

I had seen Hermione nervous before. She'd been nervous all those years ago when I was forcing her to tell me about Winnie's sudden existence, after we had finally reversed the memory spell and her parents were themselves again, and the first couple of times we went to Lamaze classes together. And when Winnie was born, she was a bundle of nerves. We both had been. But I had never seen her like this. She was rushing around the house like a mini tornado, picking up random things and putting them down again, all the while muttering to herself about annoying assuming best friends. Both Winnie and I stood off to the side of the room, with amused looks on our faces. I can't imagine what my Tabby Cat was thinking. Winnie had insisted on being around from the get go after we had told her that someone special was coming over and that she would like meeting her. We didn't tell exactly who it was though because Hermione wasn't sure how Ginny would react to her and didn't want her to be disappointed. I had no such doubts though. I was positive Ginny would love her. She impossible not to love. Hermione had just picked up a stack of books for the fifth time and put them back down again, when there was a loud _crack _and Ginny appeared out of nowhere. Jumping slightly at the no longer familiar sound of Apperating, I wasn't surprised when Winnie gave a small squeak of fright and streaked from the room before Ginny had the chance to see her. She of course knew all about the different magical ways of travelling but having never seen it in action before, her reaction got the best of her. She is only six after all. Winnie's disappearing act didn't go unnoticed by her mother either. I saw Hermione sigh slightly in relief. At least she didn't have to deal with the Ginny/Winnie meeting straight away.

Once Ginny got her bearings again, she looked around, smiled when she saw me and came and gave me a hug. Raising her eyebrows slightly, her question was clear in her eyes, so I grinned at her and pointed to an anxious Hermione who was standing frozen on the other side of the room. Ginny whipped her head around, her bright red hair flaring out around her as she set her eyes, for the first time in seven years, on someone else she had thought she had lost. The two women stared at each other silently for a couple of minutes before Hermione took a hesitant step forward.

"Ginny?" she said, her voice shaking slightly.

That was all it took to break Ginny's stillness. The redhead threw herself across the room and into Hermione's arms, babbling incoherently, tears pouring down her face. Standing there, watching as the two friends hugged each other, happiness filled me. This was the way it was supposed to be. As this thought crossed my mind, Ginny turned towards me and held her arm out.

"Come on Rosie, get your butt over here" she said her voice still ringing with tears.

I grinned, walked over to them and into the arms of the two best girlfriends I had ever had.

We were still hugging each other a while later, just enjoying being in each other's company again, when a small voice broke though the stillness of the room.

"Mommy? Aunt Rosie?"

With our arms still being around Ginny, Hermione and I both felt Ginny go instantly still at those three words. She slowly pulled away from us and turned around, her eyes falling immediately on the little girl who hovered in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. She didn't say a thing, just stared at her. Winnie stared back, taking in Ginny's flame coloured hair, pale skin and freckles. I saw the instant in dawned on her who the stanger was. Her eyes widened and she took an eager step forward. Seeing this as well, Hermione moved over to her daughter, put an arm around her and brought her over. Ginny's gaze still hadn't left Winnie and she still hadn't said anything.

"Ginny, I want you to meet someone" she said softly. "Her name is Tabitha Winnifred Rosalyn Granger. And she's my daughter."

Ginny's eyes flicked quickly over to Hermione's before just as quickly returning to the little girl hopping from foot to foot in front of her. As Hermione hovered protectively behind her daughter, Ginny took a deep breath and got down onto her knees, at Winnies height.

"Hi there Tabitha" she said quietly. Winnie giggled and shook her head at her.

"No it's Winnie, not Tabitha. And you're Ginny Weasley. I'm so happy to finally meet you! Aunt Rosie told me everything about you!" And being the type of person she was, Winnie did the most natural thing in the world to her. She buried herself in Ginny's arms, hugging her for all she was worth. For a second, surprise and amazement flittered across Ginny's face before she smiled softly and hugged Winnie back. After a couple of minutes, she pulled Winnie out of her arms and looked at her.

"Winnie is it? Well it's nice to meet you too" she said before looking up at Hermione and I.

"And it's Potter, not Weasley. Has been for six years now" she said smiling. I felt a wide grin stretch across my face at her statement. So he had popped the question as soon as I had though he would. Excellent.

"Wow! You married Harry! Ginny and Harry got married mommy! How cool is that!"

Hermione smiled at her daughter's excitement while Ginny just looked a little flabbergasted that Winnie even knew who Harry was.

"I think it's very cool Winnie. We always said they would didn't we? Now how about we take this into the living room and order a pizza for dinner hmmm?"

"Yay! Pizza for dinner on a weeknight! I like it when you're here Ginny!" the over excited little girl said, dashing into the living room. I winced slightly at her antics. It was going to be next to impossible getting her to sleep tonight.

Winnie kept up a steady flow of chatter all through the waiting for and consumption of the pizza. She laughed when Ginny told her about how she had gone for a walk around the city, soon got hopelessly lost, stepped into my store to get a map to help her find her way back and got the surprise of her life when the shopkeeper turned out to be me. She peppered Ginny with question after question, finding out why Ginny was here in the first place, (attending an international healers conference) did Harry come, (no he had wanted to but was too busy at work) what harry actually did (he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts – this surprised me as he was set on being an Aurora the last time I saw him) and did they have any kids (yes two, James, four years old and Albus, two). It was quite good having her there, it made it easier between the three of us and helped a lot in the speed of catching up Hermione and I got to experience. The night rolled along quickly and before we knew it, it was quite late, especially for a six year old who had school in the morning. With a lot of whining and moaning and after extracting a promise from Ginny to come see her again soon, Winnie went to bed. As soon as she left, the atmosphere in the room tightened, tension racing up my spine. Merlin if _I_ was this tense, I couldn't imagine what Hermione was feeling. We sat there in silence, waiting as Ginny collected her thoughts.

"So _she's_ the reason you left then?" Ginny finally demanded. Hermione sighed and nodded.

"Yes. Partly" she said quietly.

"But _why _though? Did you really think we wouldn't stand by you? Or that Fred wouldn't? Sure Mum would've been a bit shocked and disappointed in you both at first, but these things happen Mione! It's not the end of the world! You didn't have to run away!"

Hermione looked down at her folded hands and seemed to need to collect herself before looking at the astonished redhead sitting next to her. I could tell that this conversation was taking its toll on her and without thinking, I got up, went and sat on the arm of her chair and put my hand on her shoulder. At this gesture, Ginny's eyes switched to me.

"And what about you Rosie? I'm guessing that little note came from you? Did you really think it would alleviate our fears all that much?" Hermione looked at me, surprise in her eyes.

"You left a note?" she asked softly. I nodded.

"I had to, we couldn't just leave them with nothing, it would've been fair" I said.

"Fair? How is leaving in the first place fair? And keeping my brother away from his daughter! He doesn't even know about her! That's not fair at all!"

Being that it had been almost a decade since I had seen Ginny in a temper, her outburst was a little startling at first. Also the fact that she had just assumed the Winnie was Fred's put a bit of a hitch in my stride as well. Looking at Hermione, I saw that once again, all the colour had drained out of her face. Her eyes flicked to mine, pleading. I gave her a slight nod, telling her that I was behind her in whatever she decided to do. Hermione took a deep breath and, for the second time in her life, chose to tell a small part of the truth that would turn everything on its head.

"Winnie isn't Fred daughter Ginny" she said. Ginny looked stunned for a moment and then, to my surprise, angry.

"Oh course she's Fred's! Whose else would she be?" Hermione looked at me helplessly before turning back to Ginny.

"Please don't ask any more questions Ginny. Please just trust me. If she was Fred's there's no way I would of left. I would have never deprived him of that."

Ginny stared at Hermione silently for a moment before the truth dawned on her and she blanched.

"Oh Merlin, she isn't Fred's is she? But that means that you…"

"What! No! Of course I didn't! I would never do that! I love him!" I started slightly, hoping that Ginny wouldn't notice the present tense used instead of the past.

"Well obviously you did! The evidence is right upstairs!"

"No! No I didn't Ginny! I swear to you that I didn't cheat on him!"

"Ok guys I think maybe we need to bring this down a notch. Don't really need to let the whole neighbourhood know now do we?" I said as calmly as possible.

Ginny got up of the couch and went and stood by the window. Even from the other side of the room I could see her trembling slightly, her emotions out there for everyone to see. Hermione got up slowly, made her way over to her and tentatively put her hand on her shoulder.

"Please Ginny. Please, you _have_ to trust me. I didn't cheat on Fred. I can't tell you what really happened because it's not something I can talk about. Not right now anyway."

Ginny turned around and stared directly into Hermione's eyes, seemingly searching her soul. Whatever she saw there, she must have liked what it was because she relaxed, her anger gone with acceptance replacing it.

"Ok then. No more questions. She's a great little girl though. I'm really glad I got to meet her. And so will everyone else be when they do as well." Once again Hermione looked shocked.

"Meet her? I thought you said no one else was with you?"

"They aren't but you're going to come home aren't you? Ron's wedding is in three weeks and since you missed mine and Harry's, you have to come to his!"

Good Godric! Ron was getting married? Who to? My mind whirled as I tried to take in the fact that the boy I had known had found someone to settle down with. It seemed impossible to comprehend. Ginny must have seen the look on my face because she suddenly laughed.

"Yeah I know, hard to believe isn't it? And to Luna Lovegood of all people as well! He always thought she was weird in school. But they've been together for two years now and three months ago he finally popped the question. You guys have to come! Besides even if you don't, as soon as I let them know that I ran into you while I was here, wild horses couldn't keep them away." She fixed her gaze on Hermione and then funnily, quickly swung it over to me before shifting it back again. "Especially the twins!"

I looked at Hermione pleadingly. I wanted to go the Ron's wedding. I wanted to see everyone again. In that moment, more than anything else in the world, I desperately wanted to go home. Hermione read this desire in my gaze, stared at me for a moment and then seemed to cave in on herself. She sighed, defeated.

"Well then. I guess we're going home."


	5. Chapter 5

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn and Tabitha (Winnie)

**Quick A/N – So even though I haven't had very many reviews (yet I hope) for this story, a number of you have followed and favourited it instead. Thank you to all who have done this – it really encourages me to carry this story on and update as soon as I can. So give yourselves a congratulatory pat on the back because you guys and the reviewers are the ones that keep me writing. Now on with the story!**

Chapter Five.

_I looked at Hermione pleadingly. I wanted to go the Ron's wedding. I wanted to see everyone again. In that moment, more than anything else in the world, I desperately wanted to go home. Hermione read this desire in my gaze, stared at me for a moment and then seemed to cave in on herself. She sighed, defeated._

"_Well then. I guess we're going home." _

It's amazing how hard it is to pack up ones whole life. We had lived in this apartment for six and a half years and within its walls, a hell of a lot of memories were stored. It was the place that Winnie had been brought home to for the first time, the place where she took her first steps in, the place that she had said her first word in. So to pack it all up and leave, especially in such a short amount of time, was incredibly difficult to do. Over the next two weeks, I found myself constantly walking into a certain part of the apartment and being sucked back into a memory of past events that had happened in that room. For example, when Hermione and I were packing up our library, we were continuously commenting on memories that were popping into our minds. The first book we had bought that had started our collection. The first book we had read to Winnie. The first book she had read to us. Coincidently, the packing took a lot longer than it should have because we would linger over a certain item, ramble on about the memory it bought to mind and then spend the next half an hour bawling over it. So in turn it became a long and arduous process, but finally all the packing was done and we were ready to go. Standing in the dining room with all of the boxes and bags stacked against the wall, ready to be shrunk and packed into a small backpack so that we could take it all at once, Winnie and I looked around the place for the last time. As my eyes moved around the room, I felt a small hand slip into mine, and I glanced down at the little girl standing beside me.

"You ok Tabby Cat?" I asked. "You ready for this?"

Winnie's beautifully long, thick and wavy hair fell down her back as she looked up at me with a small, slightly trembling smile.

"I'm great Aunt Rosie" she said. "I'm finally going to get to meet everyone you've told me about. I can't wait!"

Despite her brave words, her voice cracked as she spoke, revealing her nerves. I put my arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

"Come on then, let's get all of this gear ready to go then shall we?" I said.

Winnie nodded eagerly. She loved it when her mother and I used magic. Up until now it had been a rare sight in the household and watching us do still fascinated her. Walking over to the pile against the wall, I pulled my wand out of the pocket in my sweatshirt and with a wave, I cast the shrinking charm. Winnie's eyes widened in delight as one by one, our possessions shrunk to a thirtieth of their original size. Once they were all the size of a Bertie Botts Every Flavour Bean, Winnie picked them up carefully and put them in the backpack, giggling all the while. The sound rang through the nearly empty room, causing a soft smile to grace Hermione's face as she came in the door, arriving back from returning the key. She walked over and knelt down beside her daughter, zipped up the backpack and slipped it over Winnies shoulder. Winnie grinned at her and gripped the strap, thrilled to have the responsibility of looking out for our possessions. Hermione smiled softly back at her, love shining in her eyes, before she ruffled her hair and got up and came over to me.

"So we ready to go then?" she asked. I nodded and put my hand on her arm.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked softly. "You won't be able to only give half an explanation this time. They will want to know everything. Are you ready to open yourself up to that?"

Hermione took a deep breath, seemed to square her shoulders and looked me dead in the eye.

"Yes I think I am. I've put this off for too long. Kept them from meeting a brilliant little individual and from her meeting them, for _far_ too long. It's time to get this all out in the open."

My heart leapt at these words, the words I had been waiting years to hear her say. I smiled widely at her, squeezed her shoulder and we both turned towards Winnie, who had been wrapped up in adjusting and readjusting the strap of the backpack when we were talking.

"Winnie love, it's time to go now" Hermione said, holding out her hand. Winnie skipped over to us and took her mother's hand. Hermione looked at me and raised her eyebrows in question. I nodded, took her arm, and with a quick twist, felt for the first time in years the tugging hook like sensation in my centre of Apperation.

I had forgotten just how much I really disliked Apperating. Sure, it was a great way to get places and before we had left, I used it all the time, but I hadn't liked using it then either. And with the trip between New York and England being a rather long distance to travel, even if you were insta-travelling like we were, I disliked it even more. It was like being sucked through a tunnel the size of a straw against your will, twisting and turning horribly and then suddenly being thrown to a stop. And the extra distance we were travelling just made the sensation worse, so that when we did arrive in the backyard of Harry and Ginny's house in Hogsmede, the first thing I did was fall to the ground and curl into a ball, air hissing through my teeth as I tried to stop myself from throwing up. Compared to most people, my reaction to Apperation was rather extreme. It always had been, from the very first time I did it, but before we had left I had managed to get it down to just a slight queasy feeling every time I Apperated. Not this time though. As I tried my hardest to keep my breakfast down, I heard Winnie ask Hermione if I was ok.

"She's fine honey, she's just allergic to Apperating that's all. Some people are."  
Slowly my stomach settled somewhat and I groaned and turned over, blinking up at the two perfectly fine people standing above me. I frowned up at them broodingly. Hermione grinned at me, knowing exactly what I was thinking. She, Harry and Ron had always loved to tease me about my "Apperation allergy." She held out her hand to me and pulled me to my feet.

"Ok then?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm good, just not really used to that anymore I guess" I rasped, my stomach still somewhere in the vicinity of my throat.

"You'll get used to it again, don't worry. Come on, Ginny said just to let ourselves in."

The three of us made our way across the grass toward the backdoor of the house. Every step we took caused my head to pound horribly and I put my hands to my forehead, trying to stop my eyes from falling out. This was why I don't drink in access. I already knew what a hangover felt like, I certainly wasn't going to choose to intentionally create one.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't use a Portkey, like we did last time" I grumbled.

"This was the only way to get here without everyone finding out, you know that" Hermione said. "To use a Portkey we would have had to approach the American Ministry to request one and then they would have had to let the receiving end know we were coming through and so on. Our return would definitely have gotten out pretty quickly. And you know that we only used a Portkey last time because a certain someone owed us a favour. Those were special circumstances that required a special multi-trip Portkey since we weren't sure where we were going to end up. I think we've burned that bridge now don't you?" I sighed and nodded. Hermione threw her arm around my shoulder.

"Come on, your reaction will pass soon. It always has before hasn't it?"  
She was right. It had always passed pretty quickly in the past. I just had to suffer through it until it did.

Opening the back door with a quick _Alohamora_, we stepped into Harry and Ginny's kitchen. Neither occupant was there at the moment as it was the middle of the morning on a weekday so both of them were at work. Before Ginny had left us those weeks ago, she had insisted that we stay with them until we had found our own place. We had tried to turn her down, Hermione saying that we wanted our return to be quiet and staying with the couple wouldn't help that as Harry was still featured in the news quite often, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I was secretly relieved. I really didn't want to put off any reunions for too long. I missed everyone like crazy. Ginny had promised not to tell Harry that she had run into us though, which I was pleased about. The last two weeks had been hard enough, having the others showing up out of the blue would have just made all the already existing drama even worse. Unpacking didn't take too long as we weren't unpacking all that much, just enough to keep us going. Winnie's room was the most important. It took us the rest of the afternoon to set her room up as we wanted her to be at home as much as possible which Ginny completely agreed with. We didn't go to huge lengths as we did want her to be able to leave the place, but we felt she should be comfortable. Before we knew it, it was long past noon and we were starving. With Winnie occupied running around the backyard which she had never been able to do before, Hermione and I began raiding the refrigerator when Ginny Apperatered in.

"Oh wow, you're here! Finally!" she shrieked , hurting my eardrums. She ran to us and enveloped us both in a huge hug very similar to the one we had shared in the apartment two weeks ago.

"Where's Winnie?" she asked after letting us go. Hermione was about to turn and point out the window when –

"Aunt Ginny! Aunt Ginny! We came! We made it!" an extremely excited shout sounded from the porch and a tiny missile bulleted into the kitchen, straight into Ginny's arms. On Ginny's last visit right before she had left us, Winnie had gone up to her and asked her in a very small voice if she could please call Ginny aunt, just like she did Aunt Rosie. In all the time I had known her, I have never seen Ginny melt so quickly. She had pulled Winnie into her arms and had said yes of course she could. It had been a lovely moment and it had given me hope that if we somehow couldn't manage to get everyone to forgive us, then maybe Winnie could help.

Ginny hugged her new-found adopted niece hard then stepped back and beamed down at the little girl.

"Yes I see that, you did make it. How did you like your first trip by Apperation?" she asked.

"It was awesome! It felt like I was a spinning top, going every way at once! Aunt Rosie didn't like it though. When we arrived she got really green and I thought she was going to puke! She didn't though" Winnie said, somewhat disappointedly. Ginny laughed.

"Yeah she's always been like that. You should have seen her the very first time she did it. Did she ever tell you about the time that a spell backfired and Ron ended up throwing up slugs?" Winnie nodded eagerly.

"Well your aunt's first reaction to Apperation was a lot like that, minus the slugs of course" Ginny said with a grin.

"Oh gross really? That's disgusting! Was it heaps? Did it go everywhere? Was it chunky like-"

"TABITHA WINNIFRED!" Winnie looked down sheepishly.

"Sorry mommy" she said as Ginny and I hid grins behind our hands. Ginny patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Why don't you go continue playing outside while your mum, aunt and I make some lunch ok?" she suggested.

"Okay!" Winnie said and zoomed out the door. Ginny smiled after her.

"That girl never slows down does she?" she asked.

"Nope" Hermione said lovingly. "That's her. Always on the highest setting possible."

"So what's with the shortened second name thing anyway?" Ginny asked as she set out the ingredients to make a pasta salad for lunch. "I would've thought you would call her Tabitha since you named her that."

"Calling her Tabitha wasn't really my choice" Hermione said. "My parents wanted the name, as it was my great aunt's name on my dad's side, who passed away when he was a kid. I didn't really like it and I told them that, but we were on such bad terms at the time that I gave in to keep the peace. Her first name's really Tabitha Winnifred. Hyphenated. We only use the hyphenation in official documents though. Rosalyn is her second name."

"So you call her Winnie to get out of using a first name you really didn't want in the first place?"

"Ah huh. That's why she corrected you when you called her that the first time. The only people who call her that are her grandparents." Ginny pursed her lips in thought.

"I must say, that's very sneaky of you Miss Hermione. Great way to appease your parents and still call her the name that you wanted. Very Weasley Twin like of you. Well done." Hermione grinned.

"Thanks, but it was more Rosie's idea than mine. I was going to give in completely when she came up with the idea" she said. I smiled fondly, remembering the look of intense gratitude on Hermione's face when I had made the suggestion. It hadn't really made me anymore popular with the Grangers though. I quickly shook that depressing thought away and focused back in on the conversation.

"What are you doing here by the way?" I asked Ginny. "Didn't think your day ended this early."

"It doesn't, I took a couple of hours personal time. Got to be back by 3pm" she said. "I knew you were coming today and I was hoping to be here when you got here but I got held up at work."

"Yeah well that'll happen when you're an important healer" I said looking at her proudly. Ginny ducked her head with an embarrassed grin.

"I'm not that important" she protested.

"So _you_ say but others say differently. Like The Daily Prophet." Ginny's head snapped up.

"Thought you couldn't get the Prophet in the States" she said in confusion.

"You can't but about two years ago some smart witch of wizard finally decided to catch up with the muggle world and put the Prophet on the internet. Doesn't have a huge following but the few that it does have are loyal which keeps it going. I get all the news from there. Like you helping to save all those people from that hippogriff fever outbreak. That was amazing Ginny." She smiled shyly.

"If you get all the news from the, ahh… what's it called… innetter thingy, how come you didn't know Harry and I got married?" she asked. I smiled at her sadly.

"Because I cast a spell to prevent myself from finding out any personal information" I said quietly. "I didn't want to know those things until I had the chance to hear it from you guys personally."

As I said this Hermione stared at me, her expression riddled with guilt.

"Merlin Rosie, I'm so sorry for pulling you into this!" she cried. "It should have just been me to leave, you should've stayed behind!" I quickly got up and went over to her chair, putting my hands on her shoulders.

"There is absolutely nothing in the world that would have stopped me coming with you Mione" I said firmly. "We were in this together from the start. Now stop with the self-loathing and misplaced guilt. What's done is done, we can't go back and change it and even if we could, I wouldn't. Not if it meant missing out on Winnie. She makes everything worth it." Hermione sighed and rested her forehead on my chest.

"Yeah she is, isn't she" she agreed quietly,

"You know, you two are not going to be able to get away with that for very much longer" a soft voice said from across the table, bringing both our heads up. Ginny stood there watching us. "You're going to have to explain exactly what's going on eventually" she said.

"We will. Soon. I promise" Hermione said. Ginny kept looking at us for a moment, than nodded and went and called Winnie in for lunch, the completed pasta salad sitting on the table, ready to be served.

"So… when does Harry finish? Hermione said hesitantly, once lunch was over and Winnie had settled into the living room with a favourite book.

"He'll bring the boys home from the day-care at the school at about five" Ginny said. "Usually he goes back to work after, to grade papers and the like, but I don't really think that'll happen tonight" she said dryly. Hermione and I laughed.

"Yeah I think tonight will warrant a change in plans" I said.

"So how do you want this to go? Just have him show up and you guys pop out with Winnie and shout "surprise"?" Ginny said grinning.

"Oh yeah, I can really see that going down well" Hermione said, heavy on the sarcasm. "No I think it would be best if we went for a walk, maybe show Winnie round Hogsmede, while you sit him down and tell him about us. Then we can come back in say, an hours' time and see him." I nodded my agreement to this idea.

"Okay then but you better be ready for shouting, because he's going to be angry." Hermione looked down at her hands timidly.

"Is he even going to want to see us?" she asked.

"Of course he'll want to see you Hermione! But you disappeared without a trace for seven years and then you come back with bouncy chattering six year old secret that you won't explain about! You can't expect everything to be hunky dory as soon as you walk in the door you know."

"Yeah I know, I was just hoping-"

There was a loud _crack_ from the sitting room, followed closely by a squeak of surprise and a couple of high pitched babbles. Hermione and I looked at each other in fright, quickly jumped up from the table and ran full tilt into the sitting room, wands drawn. What we saw when we got there was the last thing we expected. Winnie sat in the corner of the couch, wide eyes trained on the figure standing in the middle of the room. The figure was staring back at her in surprise and confusion until Hermione and I made our abrupt entrance. When he saw us, his bright emerald eyes widened behind his glasses and he seemed to freeze, forgetting about the small girl on the sofa until she spoke.

"Hey look mommy, Harry's here! Hi Harry!" The intruder's head quickly spun back round towards her, the rapidness of his movements lifting his midnight black hair off his forehead, revealing a very well-known lightning shaped scar. He stared at Winnie for a minute before going over and setting down beside her, the two toddlers he carried in his arms. Turning back to the adults in the room, he folded his arms across his chest and fixed his gaze on Hermione and I before swinging it towards his wife, who had slowly followed us into the room.

"Ok will someone please tell me what in the name of Godric is going on here?"


	6. Chapter 6

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosalyn and Tabitha (Winnie)

Chapter Six.

"_Hey look mommy, Harry's here! Hi Harry!" The intruder's head quickly spun back round towards her, the rapidness of his movements lifting his midnight black hair off his forehead, revealing a very well-known lightning shaped scar. He stared at Winnie for a minute before going over and setting down beside her, the two toddlers he carried in his arms. Turning back to the adults in the room, he folded his arms across his chest and fixed his gaze on Hermione and I before swinging it towards his wife, who had slowly followed us into the room._

"_Ok will someone please tell me what in the name of Godric is going on here?" _

Merlin, this was really starting to become a habit. And certainly not one that I enjoyed. It would be nice if we could re-meet at least _one_ person without trying our best to give them a heart attack first. I quickly looked at Hermione, wondering how she wanted to play this. She hadjust promised not five minutes before to give everyone an explanation, but I wasn't sure if she was ready to do it just yet. She looked back at me, slightly desperately, clearly not knowing what to say any more than I did. Seeing the predicament we were in, Ginny stepped over to the couch and took Winnie's hand.

"Come on Winnie my girl; let's go put the boys down for a nap ok?"

"Can't I stay and talk to Harry?"

"Not at the moment sweetie. Harry and your Mum and Aunt Rosie need to have a talk. You can talk to him later. Besides, don't you want to meet your cousins?"

Winnie turned towards the two little boys sitting next to her. While James was sitting silently, staring at Winnie in curiousity, two year old Albus had fallen asleep curled into the corner of the couch. She pursed her lips and looked at them in interest.

"Cousins?" she asked.

"Well if I'm your Aunt and they're my sons, that makes them your cousins doesn't it?"

Winnie thought about this for a second, her forehead scrunched up in concentration. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have laughed at the complete absorption she gave the thought. I could almost see the instant it clicked in her head. Her beautiful brown eyes, so like her mothers, lit up and wide smile spread across her face. She bounced up and down in her seat a couple of times before she almost threw herself of the couch, grabbing James's hand in her own.

"Yeah, come one, let's go! I've never had cousins before! Let's go, let's go!" she said, tugging on his hand.

Ginny laughed at her antics, picked up her still sleeping youngest and took James's other hand. She led the children towards the door, stopping only once beside a silent, tense Harry who had watched the scene between his wife and the foreign little girl in frustrated confusion. She put her hand on his arm and rubbed it comfortably.

"Hear them out ok?" she said quietly. He stared into her eyes for a few minutes before his stance relaxed slightly, some of the tension draining out of him. His eyes flicked down to Winnie, who was staring up at him smiling brightly, than back up to his wife before giving a small nod.

"You and I are going to talk later as well" he said just as quietly as Ginny had. Ginny sighed, accepting this, and the four of them left the room. As the door swung shut, I heard little James speak for the first time, abruptly demanding that Winnie tell him who she was.

With the youngsters out of the room, Harry switched his formidable gaze back to Hermione and I. He stood there staring at us, frowning heavily, a mixture of emotions swirling in his eyes. As we watched, slowly one emotion pushed its way forward, overshadowing all the rest. Anger.

"Where the bloody hell have you two been?" he hissed at us through his teeth. "Do you have any idea what you put us through? Did you even stop to consider for even a _second _what your disappearance would cause us to think? The fear it would cause? Huh? Did you?"

Harry's voice was getting louder and louder the more he spoke. His hands were clenching and unclenching continuously and a nerve was jumping in his jaw. Hermione and I looked at each other anxiously. Both of us recognised the signs of a full blown Harry Potter Temper Tantrum. It had happened very rarely over the years, but we had learnt from the few times it had, that you really didn't want to be around when Harry lost control.

"Now calm down Harry, give us a chance to-" I started to say.

"_Calm down?_ CALM DOWN? YOU GUYS VANISH WITHOUT A TRACE FOR SEVEN YEARS AND THEN JUST SHOW BACK UP ON THE DOORSTEP LIKE NOTHING HAS HAPPENED AND EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?

"Harry we can explain-" Hermione said, again trying to reason with him.

"AFTER WHAT YOU PUT US THROUGH, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I EVEN WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXPLANATION? YOU CAN'T JUST-"

"_Don't you yell at my mommy!"_

I gasped and spun around, Harry and Hermione copying my actions. Winnie stood in the doorway, trembling slightly as she glared at Harry. I took a step forward but Hermione beat me to it, running over to her daughter and pulling her into her arms.

"It's ok Winnie, he wasn't yelling at us, he was just-"

"Yes he was I heard him! Why was he yelling at you? I thought he was a nice person!"  
"He is honey, he's just a little angry at us at the moment."

Winnie's gaze switched between her mother, me and Harry, who stood there with a stricken expression on his face. A thought seemed to occur to her and she turned towards her mother, burying her face into the crook of her neck. Her voice was muffled, but all three of us still heard the next question she asked.

"Did I do so something wrong?" she whispered. Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly pulled her back and stared at her, shocked.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" she asked.

"Because Aunt Rosie said that he's a kind person who hardly ever gets angry but now he's yelling at you and he's angry at you and the only difference is me so I must have done something wrong" she said in a rush. "What did I do?"

I groaned silently. Sometimes having a child smart beyond their years in the family wasn't all that much of a blessing. I was about to step forward again, to help Hermione who had pulled Winnie back into her arms and was hugging her hard, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry move toward the two of them and crouch down.

"You didn't do anything wrong honey" he said softly. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you did. And I'm sorry for yelling at your Mum. Your right. I shouldn't have been doing that."

Winnie peered out from under her mother's bushy brown hair, frowning at Harry.

"You were yelling at Aunt Rosie too" she pointed out accusingly. Harry grimaced and sighed.

"So I was. I'm sorry for that as well. I won't yell anymore. I promise" he said firmly.

Winnie stared at him silently for a second before she seemed to read something in his eyes that reassured her. Stepping out from her mother's arms, I held my breath as she moved towards him and reached up to run her fingers over his scar.

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

"Well I was very young at the time so I don't really remember, but I don't think it would've hurt all that much."

"Aunt Rosie said a bad man gave it to you. And now that bad man is gone. Because of you."

Harry threw me an exasperated look before turning back to Winnie.

"It wasn't only me that got rid of him. Your Mum and Aunt helped as well. But he is gone for good though." Winnie nodded firmly.

"I'm glad because he really didn't sound like a very nice man" she said with a frown. Harry raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"No he wasn't, but he isn't around anymore so there's nothing to worry about. Now why don't you go back up to the boys hmm? You're Mum and Aunt and I still need to talk" he said, nodding towards the door where Ginny stood silently, having rushed into the room after Winnie.

"Ok but no more yelling" Winnie said sternly. Harry ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Hey I promised already didn't I? Now go. I'll come see you later."

Winnie nodded eagerly in agreement and went over and took Ginny's hand again, pulling her from the room. Ginny threw a hard look at Harry as she left. I could almost guarantee he was going to get a telling off later.

Once Winnie had gone, Harry turned towards us again and sighed. He went over to the couch and sat down, patting the space beside him. Hermione and I looked at each other then went and sat down as well, Hermione on the couch beside Harry and me in the armchair opposite. Harry ran his hands through his hair, messing it up even further than it already was before turning to Hermione.

"Ok so from what I've heard, you're her mother then?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and stared at her hands.

"How old is she?" Harry asked in a soft voice, seeming to pick up on how hard a subject this was for her to talk about. Hermione's head came up and she stared at him before dropping her gaze to her hands again.

"She's six" she whispered.

I watched as Harry did the calculations in his head and came up with all the wrong conclusions.

"So Fred is then…?" Harry said slowly. I snorted quietly. At least he was a little more tactful than Ginny had been.

"No Harry, Fred isn't the father" Hermione said. Harry frowned.

"But if Fred isn't the father, who is then? Someone you met after you left?"

"No not that. I'd… ah, rather not talk about it if you don't mind" Hermione whispered. Harry frowned once again and looked at me.

"Well ok, so tell me why did you go then? And why did you only leave a short little note that didn't explain anything?!" he said in frustration.

Hermione looked at me with a small amused smile.

"One of these days you're going to have to tell me what you put in that note" she said. I grinned back at her before turning back to Harry who had gotten up and had started pacing. I looked at Hermione again and raised my eyebrows in question. She seemed to hesitate for a second before she gave a small shake of her head. I sighed in frustration. Great. More evasion.

"Ah… I can't really talk about that either Harry. I'm sorry" Hermione said. Harry spun around and threw up his hands.

"Well what _can _you talk about then?" he demanded, his voice edging towards yelling again.

I quickly got up and went over to him, putting my hands on his shoulders. I really didn't want him to upset Winnie again.

"Hey it's ok, all that matters is that we're here now and that we're not going anywhere" I said looking him in the eyes. Harry stared at me and then turned towards Hermione, hope filling his expression.

"You're staying then?" he asked, looking at me again. "Not going to jet back off to wherever you came from?"

"Oh course we're not. We're here for good. That's if you agree with Ginny and let us stay until we find a place of our own?" I said hopefully. The words had only just left my mouth when I found being yanked into a rough embrace. I grunted slightly as I hit Harry's hard chest.

"As if I would let you guys out of my site" he grumbled against my hair. "What do you take me for?"

I locked my arms around him and hung on. Harry had always been able to give the most amazing hugs. He had the very special ability of making the troubles of the person he was hugging just disappear for the length of time that they were in his arms. It was a wonderful feeling that, apart from Hermione, I had found with no one else. In a way this made perfect sense to me, as Harry was as close to a brother as I'd ever had. It was his hugs and Hermione's ear that had gotten me through my disaster of a first attempt at a physical relationship during my fifth year. Of course he hadn't known what the hugs were for; he had just known I'd needed them. Pulling back, I grinned widely at him and he smiled back at me before turning once again towards Hermione and holding out his arms. Hermione gave a sort of choked gasp before springing to her feet and hurrying into his arms. At this point I felt that if my smile had gotten any wider, it would have reached my ears. Hermione pulled out of Harry's embrace and smiled up at him, sniffing slightly. Harry eye's softened further as he softly wiped the tears from her cheeks and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Well come on then, let's go meet this little girl of yours shall we?" he said.

After his outburst in the living room that afternoon, Harry, and for that matter, Ginny as well, didn't bring up the subject again. I could still see the questions in their eyes though, especially when Winnie would talk about our life in America, or when she would ask about Ron or George or Fred or Mrs Weasley. It clearly was a struggle for them to hold the questions back, but they did manage, which I could tell Hermione was extremely grateful for. I was pleased as well. It showed just what great friends we had and it hinted at the support Hermione would get once she eventually explained herself. The rest of the day consisted of our two family's getting to know each other. Harry and Ginny's sons were wonderful little boys and I could already tell that Winnie and James were going to become fast friends. Albus was a little shyer than his older brother, but when he did come out of his shell, you couldn't help but love him – he had the sweetest smile. After Ginny had gone back to work, Harry explained to us why he had cut his work day short. Apparently someone had set off a number of Weasley Products around the school, including a new product in the day-care centre which filled the air with a putrid green gas that smelled horrible and was impossible to see through. The description of the product sort of reminded me of the dung bombs the neighbourhood boys would occasionally chuck into the classroom back in primary school. Anyway, since the room was uninhabitable until the gas was cleared out, all of the occupants were sent home for the rest of the day. In Harry's case, and a lot of other teachers as well, it meant he had to go home for the rest of the day as well, to take care of his children. I grinned when I heard this – it seems that within Hogwarts, there still lived lively and conniving young minds. What better way to get everyone out of a few classes then to not have someone to teach them?

It was after dinner that night, once all three children were in bed, that the conversation turned to Ron's wedding. We were sitting in the living room with a glass of wine, the TV playing softly in the background. Harry and Ginny were curled up on the couch together, Harry lying back into the corner with Ginny resting her head on his chest. We were talking about Professor Lupin and Tonks and how there their son, Teddy, was doing. It was hard to believe that he was almost eight years old or that Victorie was the same age. Hermione had just mentioned that she couldn't wait to see the two youngsters at the wedding when Harry frowned and turned towards her.

"You're coming to the wedding then are you?" he asked.

"Of course we are. The wedding was the reason for coming back in the first place"she said. Ginny snorted.

"No I was the reason you came back, not the wedding. It was the thought of everyone showing up on your doorstep that got you to agree to come" she said with a laugh.

"Well yeah I guess that played a part as well" Hermione said sheepishly. "But we really do want to go to the wedding. We missed your wedding Harry, and as Ginny pointed out we couldn't miss Ron's. Especially if he knew where we were and that we deliberately chose not to come. That would have been cruel."

"Ok I can accept that but you can't just show up at the wedding out of the blue, without letting everyone know that you're here first. You just can't - you know that don't you?"

I looked at Hermione who was looking down at her hands silently, and at that moment I knew that that was exactly what she had planned to do. I must have made a slight sound of incredibility because Hermione's head came up and her eyes met mine, full of pleading. I huffed and frowned at her, shaking my head in denial. Hermione's shoulders slumped and she stared at her hands again before she suddenly squared them, breathed in deeply and looked at Harry.

"Yeah I knew that and no I hadn't planned on doing it that way" she fibbed.

Harry and Ginny looked at her, recognising her lie for what it was but not saying anything. I frowned slightly at them, not liking the look in Harry's eyes. I knew he was trying his hardest not to judge Hermione, but with him not knowing the reasons for her actions just yet as I did, I understood that it must be incredibly hard to do. Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat under his gaze before her mouth firmed and her eyes came up, staring defiantly back at them. I grinned at to myself and gave her a mental pat on the back. You go girl.

"So the wedding's on Sunday isn't it?" she asked. Harry nodded.

"When's the rehearsal dinner?"

"On Friday. You can't really just show up at the rehearsal dinner either."

"No no, I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking maybe we all meet at the Burrow a couple of days beforehand."

"So you'll do a surprise "hey look guys we're back!" kind of thing?" Hermione gave a small laugh.

"No, that really hasn't turned out very well recently" she said, her voice as dry as the desert. "I think it would be best if we did it the way we were originally planning to do with you. Have you guys sit them down and tell them what's going on so that they know what to expect. Then we'll show up. Won't be such a shock that way. That's if you're willing to help?"

Harry opened his mouth, then shut it again and frowned severely. I held by breath and crossed my fingers, praying desperately, while Ginny rubbed her hand up and down Harry's arm, giving him her support but leaving the decision up to him. Hermione stared at him, pleading once more again in her eyes. Harry abruptly looked away from her, his head turning toward me. I raised my eyebrows at him in question.

"You think this is a good idea?" he asked me.

"Well… I think it's the only way we _can_ do it. Both yours and Ginny's reaction to us just showing up wasn't really all that enjoyable and even though they're all still going to be shocked and angry, this way they'll be slightly more prepared" I said quietly.

Harry stared at me, his green eyes penetrating before he sighed, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh yeah, this is going to be _heaps _of fun" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.


	7. Chapter 7

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosie and Winnie.

Chapter Seven.

"_You think this is a good idea?" he asked me._

"_Well… I think it's the only way we can do it. Both yours and Ginny's reaction to us just showing up wasn't really all that enjoyable and even though they're all still going to be shocked and angry, this way they'll be slightly more prepared" I said quietly._

_Harry stared at me, his green eyes penetrating before he sighed, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes._

"_Oh yeah, this is going to be __**heaps **__of fun" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. _

We spent the rest of the night planning exactly how to break the news. It was decided that Harry and Ginny would gather everyone together at the Burrow the next evening. We didn't want to wait too long for everyone to find out about us as, I was quick to point out, Hogsmede was a pretty small town and sightings of a part for the Golden Quartet who hadn't been seen in almost a decade would quickly get spread around. I really didn't want anyone to find out about us being here through an outside source. That would just make things worse. With the wedding being at the end of the week and the rehearsal dinner on Friday, it made the next evening, being a Tuesday, all the better, as we hoped that by the time Friday rolled around, everyone would be over their shock and we would be welcome at the rehearsal. I scoffed under my breath as this was brought up. Three days wasn't nearly enough time for forgiveness of this magnitude. I was counting on Hermione to have made a decision on what she was going to tell everyone by that time. Knowing the reasons behind our abrupt departure would go a long way towards everyone's acceptance. It would still take a while for people to take in and process the event that had led to where we were now, but knowing that we didn't just abandon our lives for no reason would certainly help. Later that night, as we were getting ready for bed, I questioned Hermione about her choice to tell everyone at once and not in smaller groups. She sighed and looked at me determinedly.

"If I'm going to get this all out in the open, I think that it would be best to tell everyone at once. Having to repeat myself a few times… I just don't think I can do that" she said quietly.

"So you are going to do this then? Tell the whole truth?"

"Yes I think I am. You saw the look on Harry's face earlier. I don't want to see that look spread across the faces of everyone I love. I'll probably end up with pity instead, but I'll just have to deal with that" she said. I sighed in relief.

"But don't you want to maybe tell a couple of people separately?" I asked, trying to be delicate.

"I take it your meaning Fred?" she asked. I nodded.

"No I really don't think so. Telling him separately… I don't think I'd be able to get the words out of my mouth. It's going to be hard enough with him in the room as it is. I need everyone else to be there so that I have other people to focus on."

She sighed and stared down at her hands. I really hated it when she did that. The Hermione of seven years ago would never have been so timid. Just another thing to put squarely on Bellatrix Lestrange's and a certain disgusting snatcher's shoulders. Hate coursed through me and I clenched me fists, trying to push the unwelcome emotion back into the small box inside me, where it belonged. It had taken a very long time over the years to create this box and hide away those horrible feelings. I was generally an optimistic person and very much a pacifist. That may seem strange, what with me helping others to play such a large part in the war, but apart from that one time, I had managed to make it through the whole war without using a spell darker then the stunning or binding spell, which, I must say, I'm incredibly good at. This was extremely hard to do, especially during the Final Battle, where dark spells were flying left right and centre and for most people it was kill or be killed, but managed it I had. So to have such ugly foreign emotions flowing through me all the time was very very off-putting and since I didn't want anyone to know I was feeling them, I created a sort of wall in my mind and shoved them all back behind it. Unfortunately there was still times when they became too powerful for me to hold back. This was one of those times. But I did have a lot of practise hiding those times over the years from Hermione so, thankfully, she didn't notice anything. After taking a couple of deep breaths, I unclenched my hands and lifted my head, the hate pushed back down inside me. Hermione was still staring at her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder and she raised her eyes and smiled at me.

"Come on now, better head to bed, it'll be a long day tomorrow" I said. Hermione nodded and we switched off the light before climbing into the twin beds that the spare room sported. I lay on my back and stared into the dark for a few minutes before rolling over and closing my eyes. I was in two minds about the next evening. On one hand I was really excited to see everyone. It had been far too long. But judging by the reactions we had gotten so far from our return, tomorrow wasn't going to be all that much of a laugh fest. I couldn't really see it containing any laughter at all.

Neither Hermione nor I got that much sleep that night. I lay there, listening to her tossing and turning, knowing she was awake but not saying anything. She had her own anxieties to work through, just as I had mine, and hers were a lot bigger than mine could ever be. I think she finally fell asleep around 3am and my exhausted body finally won the fight over my sprinting mind about half an hour later. It felt like I was only asleep for about five minutes when I was jerked awake by an annoyingly cheerful little voice chirping in my ear.

"Mommy! Aunt Rosie! Get up! Aunt Ginny's cooking pancakes. Hurry up or you won't get any!"

I groaned and turned over, opening my eyes a crack to see Winnie bouncing up and down on her mother's bed. Hermione was smiling sleepily up at her daughter, her wild bed hair jumping over her shoulders with the movements of the bouncing. Looking at it, I was incredibly grateful that I took after my father and had manageable straight onyx coloured hair that, since I had it cut to just reaching my shoulders a few years ago, only really went wispy in extreme mugginess. I also shared with my father the shape of my eyes, large and ever so slightly almond shaped, hinting at the ¼ Asian blood that flowed through me. The colour was all my mother and her twin though. Steel grey wasn't my favourite colour in the world but hey, it's not like I can pick my eye colour now can I? Hermione and on a lesser scale, Winnie, took after our twin mothers, with their untameable, flyaway, all over the place muddy brown hair. They got their shared eye colour from her father. Hermione really hated her hair and had tried to have it cut off at the same time I had mine done, but fortunately I had managed to talk her out of it. I thought Hermione's hair was beautiful and I wasn't the only one, going by the number of times I had seen Fred running his fingers through in in the past. I was just really glad that the bushiness hadn't been passed onto me. As I was thinking this, Winnie had abandoned her mother's bed and had jumped up on mine. She grabbed the top of the covers that were buried under my neck and tried unsuccessfully to tug them down.

"Come _on_ Aunt Rosie! James said that Aunt Ginny's pancakes are the best ever! You don't wanna miss them!" I buried my head under the pillow.

"No. Go away" I muttered against the fabric. I really wasn't a morning person.

Hermione who, like her daughter, totally was, came over to my bed and pulled the pillow off my face. I reached up and tried to grab it back but she held it above her head. Winnie was still standing on either side of me, trying to remove the covers.

"You know Winnie, I think the best way to get your Aunt up is a visit from… The Tickle Monster!" Hermione cried before reaching over and digging her fingers into my sides. I gasped and desperately tried to pull away from her, only to be assaulted from above from a very determined little girl, whose laughter rung through the room as her fingers crawled over me. Being the extremely ticklish person that I am, I could only stand so much of this before I caved, reached up and grabbed the tiny, sleep disturbing person above me and deposited her on the floor. Throwing back the covers, I pulled myself from my warm cocoon, wincing slightly as my feet hit the cold hardwood floor.

"Ok ok, I'm up I'm up!" I said grumbled. Winnie giggled, knowing exactly what I was like in the mornings, before getting up off the floor and running towards the door.

"Hurry up then! Not sure if I'll be able to save you some!" she said cheekily before dashing down the stairs. I sighed and ran my hands over my face, trying to wake myself up.

"Your daughter is extremely annoying" I grunted at Hermione. She laughed and headed towards the bathroom. I frowned after her. I don't know what she was laughing about. I had been telling the truth.

Slipping on my dressing gown, I headed down the stairs towards the kitchen, where I could hear high pitched giggles and Ginny's amused voice coming from. Pushing through the door I saw Winnie grinning up at her while she flipped pancakes, supervised James eating his helping and fed Albus his, seemingly all at the same time. I took my head in wonder. Talk about multi-tasking! Ginny turned towards me as the door opened, took in my dishevelled state and annoyed frown and with a disturbingly perky smile, held out a steaming cup. I grabbed it and took a very large gulp, glaring back at her as I remembered that she was a morning person as well. Ugh. Horrible creatures those. I suddenly felt a small tug on my gown and looking down, I saw Winnie standing in front of me holding up a plate of fluffy delectable looking pancakes. I threw her a mock death glare and with a sniff, took the plate and my half empty cup over to the kitchen table. She was lucky there was coffee and pancakes to wake me up properly. I was halfway through the plate when Hermione breezed in, showered and presentable.

"Morning!" she all but sang. I kept my eyes on my plate and took another swallow of my coffee. Ginny handed Hermione hers, leaned over towards her and said in a stage whisper:

"I'd forgotten about the Morning Monster. Some things never change do they?" Hermione laughed.

"Nope. Always one thing you can count on, Rosie and mornings being mortal enemies" she said cheerfully.

By this time the coffee was slowly making its way through my system and I was starting to become more like my ordinary self. I still didn't say anything though, actually enjoying the banter going on between the two of them. It had been a long time since anyone else apart from Mione and Winnie had teased me about my intense dislike of anything before 11am. A small smile crossed my lips and happiness ran through me, finishing the job the coffee and pancakes had started. I was really glad to be home. Swallowing the last of my pancakes, I grabbed another cup of coffee and took it with me towards the bathroom, Hermione's and Ginny's laughter following behind me.

After I had showered and dressed and felt more able to face the day, I headed back to the kitchen. Harry had already left for work and Ginny was heading in that direction as well, after dropping her sons off at the de-spelled day-care centre. Both Hermione and I had been surprised when we heard that Hogwarts now had a day-care. I made sense though, what with the massive boom of babies that had showed up around nine months after the Final Battle. Frankly I was surprised that no one had thought of it before. Not all the Hogwarts teachers were single and lived at the school.

Before Harry had gone to bed the night before, he had flued everyone that Hermione had wanted present at the Burrow the next night. He hadn't given them any reason to meet him there; just had made them all promise to come. Harry had gotten a rather surprised look on his face when Hermione told him to include Bill and Fleur. I suppose to him, he didn't think the couple had been that close to us. He was entirely wrong in that assumption. It was staying with the two of them at Shell Cottage that had helped both Hermione and I get through the horrible period that followed our escape from the Manor. I suspected at the time that maybe Fleur had guessed what was going on with Hermione. She hadn't said anything though, had just been, well, _there _for us. It had been exactly what we needed and Hermione and I were indefinitely in the couple's dept for the kindness they showed us. Giving them an explanation now would help towards repaying that dept. Anyway, everyone had agreed to show up and from now on it was just a waiting game. As the day went on, I could tell Hermione was getting more and more nervous, just as I was. It was lucky we had Winnie to distract us. We had agreed that Harry and Ginny would go straight to the Burrow after they finished at their respective jobs, and would let us know when they had told everyone and I was safe to come over. The late afternoon and evening dragged on until finally, just after six, Hermione's wand suddenly shot out purple sparks, the agreed upon signal. Hermione shot me a terrified look before gripping my hand tightly. I gave it a soothing rub and called to Winnie, who was playing in the backyard. She ran inside and grabbed my other hand.

"Ready to go meet everyone Tabby Cat?" I asked.

She nodded eagerly, trembling slightly in excitement. I smiled at her then glanced over at Hermione and nodded. She took a deep, shuddering breath, turned on the spot and we were gone, to meet whatever fate handed us.

Appearing in the living room of the Burrow, I tried to keep my balance as my head swam dizzily, feeling Hermione quickly grab my arm as she helped to hold me up. Tossing her a grateful smile, I looked around the packed, extremely tense room. Harry and Ginny were standing by the door leading to the dining room, holding hands tightly and giving us a welcoming, nervous smile. They were the only ones though. Ron and Luna sat on the couch, Luna looking at us with a puzzled frown while Ron stared angrily at the floor, ignoring us completely. George sat on a stool by the fire, his face expressionless, and as we arrived his gaze flicked up to us before returning quickly to the other side of the room. I sucked my breath in suddenly as I saw him, bombarded with emotions I had thought I'd put behind me. Seems like I hadn't. Bill and Fleur sat on the other couch, whispering quietly to each other before turning towards us with an expectant look on their faces. Fleur's eyes widened slightly as she caught sight of Winnie and her face twisted, horrified to think that her suspicions would be confirmed. Mrs Weasley sat in an armchair by the couch, and looked to be the only one apart from Harry and Ginny, who was pleased to see us. She still didn't get up though. Mr Weasley wasn't in the room; he must have been held up at work. But it was the figure standing over by the window that held George's and now Hermione's attention. Fred stood stiffly with his back to us, staring out the window, like Ron, refusing to acknowledge our presence. I felt Hermione sag slightly beside me and I sighed. Apparently this was going to be as hard as I thought it would be. The hand gripping my other one tightened slightly and I looked down at Winnie, who was watching the scene with trepidation in her eyes. Feeling her trembling start to transform from excitement to fear, I squared my shoulders and took a step forward.

"Umm… hi guys" I said softly. No one replied though I saw Mrs Weasley give Winnie I small smile. Maybe bringing her with us first hadn't been such a good idea after all. I felt Winnie tug on my hand and I looked down at her again.

"Aunt Rosie?" she said, her small voice shaking slightly. "What's going on? Do they not want to meet me?"

Her question seemed to unfreeze Hermione, as well as everyone else, who all seemed to remember that there was a small innocent girl involved. Hermione took her daughter's hand and glared at everyone in the room. Jumping from her seat, Mrs Weasley hurried over to us and crouched down in front of Winnie.

"Hello there love" she said softly. "I'm Molly Weasley, Ginny's mum." Winnie eyed her before giving her a sweet smile. I heard small gasps sound round the room as Winnies resemblance to Hermione increased.

"You're Ron's and Fred's and George's and Bill's and Charlie's mommy as well" Winnie said, her strong American accent contrasting, not for the first time, with Mrs Weasley's English one. Mrs Weasley smiled at her.

"That's right, I am" she said. "Do you want to meet everyone?"

Winnie nodded eagerly and Mrs Weasley took her hand and led her over to where Bill and Fleur were sitting. She started there then slowly made her way around the room, introducing everyone to the, again, excited little girl. I was pleased to see that everyone, including Fred, put aside their feelings to be friendly and welcoming to her. Winnie chattered to each person as she met them, truly delighted to be there, which caused smiles to appear all round. Once the introductions were over, Hermione went over to Winnie and knelt in front of her.

"Winnie love, why don't you go play outside ok? I'll call you when it's time to leave"

"Ok! Can I go down by the lake?"

"Yes but do _not_ get wet young lady. Not even to dip a toe in understand?" Winnie pouted for a second, drawing quiet laughter from around the room, before she agreed with her mother and dashed out the door. Once she was gone, the room settled back into the atmosphere it had been in when we first arrived. Hermione grabbed my hand and squeezed it almost to the point of pain. I rubbed her arm and began to pull her down to the floor, it being the only place to sit anymore, but then thought better of it. Sitting really wasn't a good idea at the moment. I stepped forward again, taking the lead.

"Ok guys, we know you've got question-" I started to say. Ron's head flew up and he stared at us angrily.

"Questions? Of course we've got questions! Bloody hell woman, like to state the obvious don't you?" he said, his voice hard. I closed my eyes slightly and sighed. Ron could get nasty when he was angry with someone. I saw Luna rub his arm in a soothing manner. I opened my mouth to speak again and was once again cut off.

"Where have you been?" a calm, quiet voice asked. Fred. I looked at Hermione, whose gaze was on the back that was still turned away from us. Her eyes flicked to me then went quickly back to Fred.

"We went to Australia first" she said softly, her voice carrying through the silent room. Fred stiffened even more as it reached him and he still didn't turn around.

"We thought maybe we could find my parents, which we did, but the spell we used on them proved harder to break then we thought it was going to be. We left after a couple of months and went to America. We've been there ever since."

"Why did you go?" he asked just as softly before he finally swung around and stared at her. "Why did you leave me?" Hermione swallowed audibly and quickly looked at her hands. The two of them had seemed to have forgotten that they weren't alone in the room, which everyone went along with since Fred was asking the questions they all wanted answers to. Hermione didn't answer and the silence stretched on, Fred never taking his eyes off of her.

"Well isn't it obvious? Just look at the tagalong that she brought with her!" Ron cried suddenly and sprung to his feet. "Harry said Hermione was adamant she wasn't yours Fred, so it's pretty fucking clear what she's been up to!"

"Ronald Weasley! Watch your language!" Mrs Weasley cried.

"Why the hell should I? I think my language is perfect for the situation!" he shouted.

"Ron please-" Hermione pleaded.

"DON'T YOU THINK YOU CAN COME CRAWLING BACK JUST BECAUSE YOU GOT YOURSELF KNOCKED UP AND-"

"_Well it's not like I had any choice in the matter Ronald!"_

As soon as the words passed Hermione's lips, she gasped and put her hands over her mouth. That was not the way she wanted it to come out. Over by the window, Fred seemed to freeze, not a single movement disturbing his stillness as all the colour drained from his face, leaving him deathly pale before he swayed slightly. Fleur gave a small strangled sob and buried her face in her husband's chest, who blanched and clutched her tightly, a grim expression on his scarred face. Over by the door, Ginny took in these reactions before she to gasped. Her eyes widened and filled with tears.

"Oh dear God, Hermione no" she moaned piteously.

Slowly the other occupants of the room clicked into what was going on. Harry's grip tightened on his wife and he stared at Hermione, horror clearly stamped on his features. George's mouth fell open in shock before his expression crumbled into sadness. He quickly got up and went over to Fred, putting his arm around him, almost holding him up. Briefly his eye's met mine before he turned back to his devastated twin. Luna's hands covered her mouth; much like Hermione's still were and she tugged her fiancé back down, whose face was completely blank. With all the reactions going on around him, it was impossible for him not to understand what was going on. It was Mrs Weasley who moved first. After a moment of stillness, she jumped up from her chair again, threw herself across the room and slammed her arms around Hermione, nearly knocking her off her feet. Hermione stood stiff in her arms for a couple of seconds before her defences crumbled and she clutched Mrs Weasley tightly, she body shaking as she cried softly. They stood like that for a long time before Mrs Weasley reluctantly let her go and, to my surprise, swept me up in a hug as well. I hugged her back than let her go and went over and put my arm around Hermione's shoulder. She turned her face into my neck and we stood there together, supporting each other.

"Umm… when did this, ah… happen?" Harry croaked before trying to clear his voice. Hermione sighed, wiped her tear stained cheeks and turned towards him.

"At the Malfoy Manor. Just before you guys came charging in. It was Bellatrix's way of further punishing me for not answering her questions. I think it was also a way to torture Rosie as well, thinking perhaps that she would answer them instead, just to get him to stop"she whispered.

Mrs Weasley's head whipped around towards me, shocked.

"You were there as well?" she demanded. I nodded slowly, catching out of the corner of my eye, the way George's face quickly spun towards us.

"Yeah, they made me stay and watch, both the torture, and the… ah, other thing" I said, quickly trailing off.

"Why didn't you tell anyone!?" Ron demanded, speaking for the first time since his tantrum had forced the truth out. Hermione sighed heavily.

"You have no idea how ashamed I was Ron" she said quietly. "I couldn't face anyone. The pity I thought I'd get… the thought of it was almost as horrible as the act itself. Even Rosie wouldn't have known if she hadn't been there in the first place. And then I found out about Winnie and quickly realised how much I wanted to keep her… it was too much. I couldn't tell any of you about how she came into existence. To have her, I had to leave. And so I did. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." She sighed softly and turned towards me. "I _would_ have gone alone, but some nosy person wouldn't leave me alone" she said grinning softly at me. I gave her a smug look and folded my arms.

"You had nothing; _still _have nothing to be ashamed about. It wasn't your fault" George said quietly but firmly. Surprising, his gaze swept over me as he said this, before he slowly lowered his brother in the chair Mrs Weasley had vacated. Fred still hadn't said anything. He just sat there, staring at nothing, his expression empty. I hesitated slightly before stepping over to him.

"You alright there Fredster?" I asked softly, crouching down in front of him. At first I thought he didn't hear me, but then his head flew up and he stared into my eyes. I gasped and pulled back slightly, scared at what I saw there. There isn't a word strong enough to describe the rage I saw in them.

"This _is _your fault. Completely your fault!" he hissed at me, his voice swelling with menace. My mouth dropped open and behind me I heard Hermione gasp.

"You were there weren't you? Why didn't stop it? Why didn't you _do_ something? You just let it happen! How could you do that? I thought you loved her!"

His voice never got above a hoarse whisper, which caused his words to hit me all that much harder. I reeled back from him as wave upon wave of guilt I had thought I'd put behind me, once again washed over me. I stumbled to my feet, breathing erratically, and reached up to clutch my head as my mind filled with horrifying images, images that still filled my nightmares. The room filled with shocked, shouting voices and as George threw himself at his brother, tackling him to the ground, Hermione rushed over to me and tried to take me into her arms. I pushed her away though and ran for the door. I couldn't take it. I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there. Reaching the door, I flung it open and did the one thing I swore I would never let myself do. I bolted.


	8. Chapter 8

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosie and Winnie

**Quick A/N – So it seems everyone liked the last chapter. I rather liked it as well lol. It was the longest one I've written so far because I just couldn't seem to stop writing. So for everyone who demanded that I update soon, here's the continuation chapter. Hope you like it just as much! And please review.**

Chapter Eight.

_His voice never got above a hoarse whisper, which caused his words to hit me all that much harder. I reeled back from him as wave upon wave of guilt I had thought I'd put behind me, once again washed over me. I stumbled to my feet, breathing erratically, and reached up to clutch my head as my mind filled with horrifying images, images that still filled my nightmares. The room filled with shocked, shouting voices and as George threw himself at his brother, tackling him to the ground, Hermione rushed over to me and tried to take me into her arms. I pushed her away though and ran for the door. I couldn't take it. I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there. Reaching the door, I flung it open and did the one thing I swore I would never let myself do. I bolted._

As I ran through the house, trying to escape as fast as I could, voices shouted after me, Hermione's being the most prominent. I ignored them completely. Somewhere inside me, I knew that running from the hideous scenes playing through my mind wouldn't stop them from continuing, but at the moment that little voice was incredibly small and very easily drowned out by other sights and sounds my treacherous memory was forcing me to relive. The more these images flashed behind my eyes, the harder it became to breath and the more the walls seemed to tighten in around me. I had to get out, into the open air. That small sane part of me that was still trying to get my attention started shouting about recognising the signs of a panic attack and knowing what to do when one rears its ugly head, as I had had plenty of experience with them in the past, but those awful memories and the swirling pool of guilt that still coated my insides was just too strong. Reaching the front door, I flung it open and barrelled through it; my eyes squeezed shut tightly in defence of the images only I could see. It was because of this that I didn't see the person on the other side of the door until I slammed straight into them. The hard impact caused what little breath I had in me to be released in a rush and I heard the other person grunt from the force of the impact as well. His arms tightened reflectively around me, which unfortunately caused the panic attack to bump itself up a notch. I started struggling desperately, broken sobs and whimpers escaping me as I tried my best to pull myself away from him.

"Rosie? Is that you? What's the matter honey? What happened?" the figure exclaimed, a frown ringing in his voice as he held me tightly and refused to let go. I ignored his words and continued to struggle but as he tried to calm me down, murmuring soothingly and running his hand over my hair, the identity of the person who was holding me slowly trickled in to my consciousness. It was his scent that finally confirmed it for me: parchment, ink, a slight whiff of oil from the muggle equipment he liked to tinker around with and, if it was possible for emotions to have a scent, kindness. The person I had almost knocked over in my haste to escape was none other than Mr Weasley. When I realised this, I stopped struggling and instead threw my arms around him and buried my face into his chest, my whole body shaking with my panic and despair. He clutched me even tighter and I could almost feel the confusion pumping off him. He pulled me back slightly, trying to look into my eyes, but I resisted.

"Rosie? Come on now sweetheart! Please tell me what's wrong" he said, desperation trickling into his voice.

"I didn't… I couldn't… he said… I didn't mean…" I stuttered, my heart pounding and my breath coming in agitated gasps.

"Shhh, it's ok, I've got you" He said, rubbing my back and trying to stop my trembling. "Come on, let's head into the house and get this sorted out ok? It can't be-"

"NO!" I yelled suddenly, jerking back as my panic came back full force. "No I can't see them! They'll hate me-"

"Aunt Rosie?"

I gasped and stilled, my gaze zeroing in on the little girl who stood beside Mr Weasley and I, her bottom lip trembling slightly as fear swam in her eyes. Oh Gods no, Winnie can't see me like this! Seeing her aunt, whom she thought of as invincible, fall apart would terrify her. Taking advantage of the shock Mr Weasley was experiencing upon seeing Winnie, I stumbled back out of his loosened grip and took off running.

"Rosie wait!" he called after me before almost getting knocked over again as Hermione came hurtling out the door. I heard her shout my name again as I ran, and if I had been in a normal state of mind, I would have cringed at the tears I heard in her voice. But I wasn't able to process her emotions at the moment; it was taking all of my concentration just to put one foot in front of the other. I had gotten to the end of the dirt road that led away from the house when I heard the steady slap of shoes hitting the ground behind me: I was being pursued. Suddenly feeling like I was being hunted, I finally grasped onto an important fact – I was a witch and I could do magic. So with a desperate twist, I Apperated away to one of the few places in the world where I felt completely safe.

Appearing out of thin air, I collapsed onto my hands and knees, violently bringing up everything that I had eaten that day. Ok so maybe Apperating in such fragile emotional state hadn't been such a good idea. I was lucky I hadn't splinched myself. Once my stomach was finally empty, I quickly wiped my mouth and scrambled to my feet before darting across the graveyard and falling down onto my parents graves. I sat there for a long time, hugging my knees to my chest, rocking silenty back and forth, tears flowing over my cheeks as I stared at the names written on the headstones. Seeing those words brought forth the small fragments of memory I still had of my parents. They weren't much, just a slight image of a happy smile and a soothing tone and the feeling of being safe and loved with warm arms around me, but it was enough to finish what Mr Weasley had started. Those treasured memories slowly replaced the terrifying images in my head and, with the help of the techniques I had learned seven years ago, my breathing gradually slowed and my heart rate settled down back into its normal rhythm. As the attack retreated, I took a deep breath and bought my head to knees. I knew coming here would help. It always had before. This was my ultimate safe place. I sighed and lifted my head, staring at the headstones again. My aunt and I used to come here every year on the anniversary of my parents death. We would always pack a small picnic, bring a blanket and just sit, my aunt telling me stories of her and my mother growing up, how my parents met and about their happy marriage. I loved hearing those stories. We would sit there until the sun started to go down before we would pack up and head home to my uncle and Hermione. It was a perfect way to celebrate my parent's life. Once Hogwarts has come calling though, I hadn't been able to make it every year, as most of the time the anniversary fell on a school day. This was something I now really regretted. My aunt still thought her sister was alive and wanted nothing to do with me, so we would never have the chance to perform our yearly ritual again. At the time though, my aunt had understood but being me, I felt guilty and had tried to come with her and on my own as much as possible. Their graves soon became my regular visiting spot, somewhere I could go to talk about anything and the only place where I actively felt their presence. Sitting here now though, all I felt as well as the old guilt swimming in my stomach was a whole mess of ugly emotions, disappointment and shame that I had fallen apart in front of everyone (especially George) and a new wave of guilt at the worry I would be causing my friends at that moment.

As our yearly rituals had been a very private thing between just the two of us, Hermione hadn't known where her mother I went for the anniversary every year. She had just known that when I had came home I was nowhere near as sad as I had started the day out being, and she had been happy with that. I'd never told anyone else about my sanctuary either, so at the moment, none of my friend had any clue where I was. I knew that they would be frantically trying to find me, and that I should at least let someone know where I was, but I couldn't seem to bring myself to move. I couldn't face them at the moment. The events of the evening flashed through my mind and I shuddered, the hate in Fred's eyes overwhelming me once more. Instinctively, I knew that he couldn't of possible have meant what he'd said, that he'd just been angry and trying to deal with his own guilt, but it still didn't make his words hurt any this. I felt like a large jaggered hole had been ripped open inside me, the box that I had so carefully maintained over the years now all but non-existent. This was exactly the way I'd felt that night seven years ago, as I sat there and watched a red headed snatcher gleefully preform an unspeakable act on my best friend and not been able to do one single thing to stop him. My heart and head seemed to be overflowing with dark, ugly thoughts and feelings and to top it all off with, I was once again swamped with that all-consuming, throat constricting, mind numbing guilt. With the help of my parents, I had managed to beat back the panic attack, but even their comforting presence couldn't defeat the fear, rage and pain that ate away at me. It seems that I'd been wrong when I thought I'd put the past behind me. I hadn't, I'd just closed it off inside me, where it had sat, waiting for a moment exactly like this, to make itself known and take over my life again.

Sitting at my parent's graves, trying to hold myself together in some small way, I didn't notice time passing until the sun had completely set and night reigned around me. With the darkness came the cold, and it was the shivering that let me know that it was time to go. I stood up slowly, groaning slightly as my knees and back told me off for sitting in the same position for so long. I took one last look and the headstones before running my hand over them lovingly and turning and heading towards the metal gates that surrounded the entrance to the graveyard. After tripping up for the third time, I decided to use a little common sense. Taking out my wand, I called _Lumos_ and the tip lit up, lighting my way out of the dark cemetery. Once I had passed through the gates, I took out my cell phone and turned it on, noticing absently the eight missed calls I had before debating who to call. Not that there was a lot of choice. I wasn't sure if any of the Weasleys even knew how to use a phone, let alone carried a cell phone. But I definitely wasn't going to try Apperating again; I'd probably leave a leg behind or something. Sighing, I knew that there was really only one number I could call – the one person who would almost be sick with worry at the moment. Dialling the number, I bought the phone up to my ear and waited for her to answer. It wasn't a long wait.

"Rosie? Oh Gods Rosie, are you ok? Where are you? Are you ok? " Hermione's words tumbled over each other, ending in her repeating herself.

"I'm fine Mione" I mumbled back at her.

"No you're not! How can you be? After what he said… It wasn't true Rosie, any of it. It's not your fault! He had no right to say that to you!" she said, her voice getting more and more agitated. I sighed and rubbed my forehead, a headache beginning to form.

"Look, can you just borrow Mr Weasleys car and come pick me up? I'm really tired, I just want to go to bed" I said quietly. I could almost see Hermione frown and her demeanour soften at my words.

"Oh course love. Where are you?" she asked softly.

"At Newberry Cemetery in East London." Hermione's surprise at my words echoed through the phone.

"Ok hold tight, I'll be right there" she said.

And true to her word, ten minutes later, I heard a rumble above me. Looking up I watched as a blue Ford Anglia flew out of the sky, landed with a bump and came to a stop in front of me. I gave Hermione a small strained smile as she sat in the front passenger seat, which quickly turned to one of horror when I saw who was driving. George's sapphire eyes seemed to drill into mine and I quickly dropped my gaze, not wanting to see the disgust that was probably swimming in them. Silently I climbed into the back seat, did up my seat belt and stared at my hands. I was so absorbed with trying to make myself not exist that I didn't notice Hermione undo her seatbelt and climb over into the back until my own seatbelt snapped off me and I was dragged into her arms. I resisted at first, feeling as if I didn't deserve her kindness, but she didn't give up, resting my head on her shoulder and rocking me back and forth, crooning soft words of comfort. It wasn't till I noticed a damp patch spread across her shirt that I realised I was crying silently. Feeling my tears on her shoulder and hearing the complete acceptance and support in her tone, the last of my resistance crumbled and I locked my arms around her and buried my face into her shoulder, my body shaking with grief.

"Is she alright?" I heard a soft deep voice ask from the front seat.

"No I don't think so, but she will be. Come on we better head back, you're mum and dad will be worried" Hermione said softly. George didn't reply but I felt the car lift off.

It wasn't until we'd almost landed at the Burrow that I realised where we were going. My breathing started to pick up again slightly as I saw its familiar crooked shape on the horizon. I glanced at Hermione frantically, who still sat beside me, not having moved back to the front seat. I didn't want to go back there! Not tonight! Not if he was still there!

"It's ok Rosie; Fred went home just after you left. He's not there anymore" Hermione said quickly, correctly reading my expression.

"Yeah he had to, he's not a very popular person at the moment" George muttered darkly, speaking for the first time since we had taken off. I'd felt his eyes on me in the rear-view mirror numerous times throughout the ride though. I didn't meet them. I was afraid of what I'd see in them.

"What about everyone else?" I asked, my eyes once again on my hands.

"Everyone apart from Bill and Fleur are still here. They said to tell you that they'll see you tomorrow, as Victorie's babysitter had to get home. Winnie got put to bed in our old room just before you rang. Everyone is staying the night. Ginny even went and got James and Albus" Hermione said. I bit my lip anxiously. Oh Gods, what must they think of me?

"They all just want to make sure you're ok Rosie. Everyone was extremely worried when we couldn't find you." I sifted in my seat guiltily.

By this time we had landed in front of the Burrow and people had piled out the front door, relieved and worried expressions on their faces. Seeing everyone, all I wanted to do was crawl away and hide but Hermione was having none of that. She grabbed my hand, opened the door and dragged me out of the car. I was suddenly surrounded by people, everyone taking at once, before Mr Weasley pushed everyone aside and gently gathered me into his arms. I'd always had a special bond with Mr Weasley; he was very much like a father to me, and now he was even more so, as my adoptive father had decided he didn't want me. I hugged him back tightly, some of the endless emptiness in me filling as his unconditional love settled over me. I quickly found myself being passed around from person to person, Harry engulfing me in one of his amazing bear hugs, Mrs Weasley sobbing into my shoulder, Ron throwing his arm around my shoulder and grinning at me while Luna stood behind him, her dreamy blue eyes glinting with happiness. Ginny was the only one who scolded me, telling me severely that if I ever worried her like that again, I'd been on the receiving end of a Boogy Bat Hex. She then threw her arms around my waist and started dragging me towards the house. I smiled to myself as even more of the emptiness was filled. At least I had people who loved me, even with what I had done. Everyone soon followed, everyone but one that is. George watched us head towards the house and when I realise he wasn't going to come in, I sighed, knowing exactly where he was going. Seeing my expression and following my gaze, Hermione's expression hardened. I looked at her and gave a small smile.

"They are twins you know. He can't just abandon him. Not with what he's going through" I said quietly as the front door shut behind us. Hermione looked at me in surprise before her eyes widened in shock.

"You're not angry at him are you?" she demanded. I shook my head.

"Why the hell not? He said awful things to you Rosie! Mean hurtful things! How can you possibly not be angry with him?" she said, her jaw clenched in fury and her eyes blazing. I sighed.

"He doesn't believe them though. He just reacted. He was just trying to deal with him own guilt over the situation" I said.

"It still doesn't give him the right to blame everything on you!" Harry said, who had been, like everyone else, listening to our conversation. He got nods of agreement from around the room, Mr and Mrs Weasley included. I tiredly rubbed my eyes, the headache from earlier pounding at the base of my skull.

"Look can we not talk about this now? I'm exhausted" I said. Mrs Weasley hurried forward and took my arm.

"Oh course dear, you go right to bed. Don't worry about a thing" she said before herding me up the stairs, Hermione following behind me. Calls of goodnight rang from below me as Hermione and I entered the room we had spent so much time in during our teenage years. Winnie was fast asleep in Ginny's old bed. I smiled at the sight of her. Pulling out my wand, I quickly transfigured my clothes in to sleepwear and was about to climb into my old bed when Hermione's voice stopped me.

"That was the first panic attack I've seen you have in years. I thought you were over them" she whispered, so as not to wake Winnie.

I quickly spun towards her, my mouth falling open. She smirked at me.

"What, you thought I didn't know about them?" she scoffed. "Come on Rosie, you're my best friend! Even with what I was going through, I'd pick up on something like that! Why didn't you tell me?" I stared at her and she stared back with nothing but love in her eyes. My heart swelled and I suddenly found myself blurting out the truth.

"What right did _I_ have, having panic attacks, when you're the one who went through what you did?" I whispered frantically. "It didn't happen to me, it happened to you! I should be the strong one and be there for you, not having bloody nightmares and falling apart, running away like a weak coward!" Hermione gasped, shot over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"You are _not _a coward Rosalyn Parker, do you hear me? How can you even possibly think that? You go on about this happening to me and sure, it was horrible and traumatic, but I only remember bits and pieces of it, for which I'm eternally grateful! You have the memory of the whole thing!"

I flinched slightly as she said this and her hands tightened on my shoulders.

"Plus you had to watch Bellatrix Crusio me beforehand! You don't think that was traumatic for you? I would think watching while not being able to do anything would be as bad as the actual act. At least the pain from the curse kept me out of it for most of the main event. You weren't that lucky! So don't you dare call yourself a coward for having a completely normal, healthy reaction to a traumatic experience!"

Hermione's eyes were locked on mine as she said this, overflowing with passion on her belief in the subject. Even though I knew her words made sense, I couldn't bring myself to believe them. Comparing her experience to mine – well they weren't even in the same league. But I gave a firm nod anyway, putting all the sincerity I could muster into my gaze. She would feel better if she thought she'd helped me.

"Ok Mione, I think I get it" I said. "Come on, I'm really tired, let's go to bed now ok?"

Hermione looked at me suspiciously, before she slowly nodded, hopefully believing my lie. I had gotten a lot better at getting them past her over the years. She let go of my arms and as I got into my bed, she got into hers. Saying goodnight, I turned over and sighed. Please don't let me dream tonight. Really don't think I could handle it at the moment.

"Oh by the way Rosie, if you ever scare me like that again I _will _make you regret it" a determined voice said from the other side of the room.

A couple of hours later, I was woken up from a light sleep when I felt a small body climb into the bed beside me. I lifted my arm and Winnie snuggled into my side, sighing happily.

"I'm glad you're ok Aunt Rosie" she whispered sleepily. "I love you."

I kissed the top of her head and fell asleep with her snoring in my ear.


	9. Chapter 9

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosie and Winnie

"_Oh by the way Rosie, if you ever scare me like that again I __**will **__make you regret it" a determined voice said from the other side of the room._

_A couple of hours later, I was woken up from a light sleep when I felt a small body climb into the bed beside me. I lifted my arm and Winnie snuggled into my side, sighing happily._

"_I'm glad you're ok Aunt Rosie" she whispered sleepily. "I love you."_

_I kissed the top of her head and fell asleep with her snoring in my ear. _

Chapter Nine.

I woke up the next morning like my eyes were attached to a rubber band. I hadn't slept very well anyway, waking up every couple of hours, and the instant that my eyes snapped open, I knew that I was completely and utterly awake. Going by the light filtering through the curtains, it was still really early. I sighed. So much for not being a morning person. Normally I slept like the dead and was a zombie in the morning - that is unless I was stressed, worried or upset about something. Then I slept in patches, if I slept at all. Knowing that it was useless to even try going back to sleep, I carefully detangled myself from a very clingy, still sleeping Winnie, slipped out of bed, got dressed and made my way downstairs. The house was completely silent, every sane person still asleep. It was a very weird feeling, being the first one up. I'm usually the last. Not feeling up to eating just yet, I grabbed a blanket and stepped out the back door, making my way down to the lake, the frost covered grass crunching under my feet. I spread the blanket out under the tree that hung over the lake and settled myself down on it, hugging my knees for warmth. If I'd been using my head I would have brought a coat out with me. But the event I had come out here to watch was just starting and I didn't want to miss it, so I sat there, in the early morning chill and for the first time in my life, watched the sun come up. Told you I wasn't a morning person.

It was an amazing sight really. The way the red, yellow and orange just seemed to bleed across the sky, slowly cracking the night open, until all of the pieces fell away to reveal the beginning of a new day. Simply breath-taking. As I breathed in the crisp morning air and watched those spectacular colours, I felt that maybe I might be able to put the events of the past 12 hours behind me. It would take a while but with a little concentration, I believed I would be able to reconstruct my box and go on with my life. I just had to avoid talking about everything until then. At this thought, that little voice in the back of my mind made itself known again, going on about how this wasn't really putting anything behind me and dealing with my feelings, it was pushing them away and hiding them instead, but once again I ignored it. So as the last of the night receded and the sun cast it's brilliance across the lake, I was filled with new found confidence, my decision made. I sat there for a long while, watching the light play across the water and diving deep into my denial. Just as I was feeling like I should be getting up and heading back to the house, a branch snapped behind me, causing my head to swing around. And I stopped dead. Standing not five feet away from me with a slightly uncertain look on his face was Fred.

He stood there with his hands in his pockets, rocking slightly back on his heels, his wary blue eyes fixed on me. His shaggy red hair was a mess, standing up in all different directions, like he'd run his hands through it far too many times. His clothes were wrinkled, and if it hadn't been clear by the bags under his eyes that he'd had a sleepless night, I would have said he had slept in them. He stared at me in silence for a while, opening his mouth like he was going to say something before frowning and closing it again. I sat there frozen and stared back before quickly turning towards the lake in a panic, having absolutely no idea what to do. I'd been honest the night before when I'd told Hermione that I wasn't angry with him, but that still didn't make this meeting any less undesirable. Plus it also wasn't helping me build up my defences again. I really didn't want to talk to him at all before I had a chance to but I also didn't see any way out of it. I was trapped. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fred take a hesitant step forward before seeming to take a deep breath and square his shoulders. He walked over to the tree and silently sat down beside me. I kept my gaze fixed on the lake, hiding my trembling hands beneath me. While I watched the lake, Fred watched me. He seemed to be waiting for something. Finally the tension of the moment became too much and I broke my determined stance in ignoring him and hoping he would go away, my eyes flicking towards his face almost against my will before just as quickly returning to the scenery. I heard Fred sigh quietly beside me and then my chin was engulfed in a large warm hand. Fred slowly turned me to face him, ignoring my feeble attempts at keeping my gaze averted. Once my eyes met his, he let go of my chin and took my hands in his.

"Rosie there is absolutely no words to describe how incredibly sorry I am for what I said to you last night" he said quietly. "That was a terrible, completely unforgivable thing to say and I'm ashamed of myself for even thinking it. My only excuse is that what I had just heard completely destroyed me, so I tried to relieve my own pain and guilt by piling it on to you. I know that you must hate me and I know that you won't be able to forgive me. I've accepted that. Please just know that I'm so very very sorry and that I don't believe a single word I said to you. If I could take it all back I would. In a heartbeat."

His eyes never left mine as he said this, the sincerity and buried deep, the self-loathing, coming off him in waves. I don't think he meant for me to see that last part, but with all the experience I had with the emotion over the years, it wasn't hard for me to recognise it in others. I swallowed hard and hastily shoved away the horrible guilt and anger his words had brought up. Having to deal with this situation while still having those and other emotions flowing through me hadn't been part of the plan. They really weren't all that easy to ignore, but I did my best as Fred's face was getting more and more concerned the longer the silence went on. I gave him a small smile that I'm sure looked more like a grimace and hurriedly turned to watch the lake again.

"There's nothing to forgive Fred" I said, my voice cracking slightly as I struggled with myself. "I know you didn't mean what you said. You were just reacting." Fred's mouth fell open in shock.

"You mean you _don't _hate me?" he asked, incredulous. I shook my head.

"But what I said Rosie! It was horrific! How can you possibly not hate me after that!?" I picked at a blade of grass, avoiding his gaze, my emotions swiftly getting past my poorly erected guards and erupting through my mouth.

"Because what you said was true" I muttered through my teeth, my eyes squeezed shut as I admitting to something I never would have if my box had been useable. I heard Fred gasp in horror beside me before I was suddenly jerked around, his grip on my arms almost painful. He stared into my eyes and because my emotions were still out there for everyone to see, I wasn't able to hide the self-loathing I was feeling, which was ten times worse than what Fred had been feeling earlier. Fred's eyes widened and he gave me shake, his eyes desperate.

"No Rosie! No! It wasn't you fault! It wasn't your fault at all! There was absolutely nothing you could have done the stop what happened! After you left yesterday, Hermione got really angry and started shouting about how they had you chained to the floor. In manacles Rosie! Harry had to blast them open! How could you possibly expect yourself to get out of that? Huh? How could you?"

Fred's words ran together as he tried his best to get me to believe what I'd been telling myself for years, each sentence punctuated by another shake. I stared at him mutely as his desperation washed over me, his words bringing back images of my failed attempts to save Hermione that awful day. They had chained me up in manacles yes, and I remembered straining against them as hard as I possibly could, the blood from my wrists running down my arms as the metal ripped into them. I remembered the chains creaking with the force of my struggles, the rough floor quickly wearing through my pants and cutting into my knees as I tried to drag myself closer to Hermione. I remembered feeling my voice run raw with my screaming that I'm sure would have echoed off the ceiling and been louder than Hermione's had been earlier if Bellatrix hadn't put a silencing spell on me earlier to stop my taunting. I remembered feeling my muscles pull and strain and the stab like pain and then deep horrible ache as my shoulder finally gave in to the pressure and dislocated. And I remember feeling utterly helpless as everything I strained to do did absolutely nothing at all to prevent what happened. I also remembered the way Bellatrix laughed at me, coming over and grabbing my chin once the snatcher had finished, saying that if I didn't speak up now, she'd let the guy do it all over again and maybe on me this time. Fortunately she didn't have the chance to act on this, as Harry, Ron, Luna and Dobby burst into the room at that moment, spells flying from their wands. Thankfully the snatcher was still crouched over Hermione so they couldn't see anything, and once Harry had gotten me loose, I flew across the room, knocking him away and swiftly tugging Hermione's pants back into position before anyone had a chance to realise what had gone on. So yes, I had tried everything I possibly could, but that still didn't relieve my guilt even a single drop. Fred seemed to realise this as he searched my eyes, and sighing, he let me go and ran a hands through his hair.

"I'm not getting through to you even a little am I?" he said in frustration. I stared at my hands again.

"Bloody hell Rosie, did you ever think that maybe you weren't meant to save her? You tried your absolute hardest but you still didn't manage to do it. Did you think that there might be a reason for that? Like Winnie maybe?"

My head swung up and I gawked at him, his word hitting me deeply and lodging themselves into my heart. I wasn't meant to save her? Because if I had, Winnie wouldn't be here? Could this be possible? Seeing that he was finally getting through to me, Fred gave a relieved smile.

"She is an incredible little girl and if that, ah… act hadn't happened, she wouldn't exist. I'm not saying that you can't wish she had happened in a different way, hell everyone wishes that, but to feel such guilt over not preventing the way she came to be almost makes it seem like you would choose for her not to be here. You wouldn't do that would you?" I frantically shook my head.

"Well then maybe you should re-evaluate your feelings on the matter. Don't cast a shadow over her arrival. She'll probably find out about it one day and think you resent her. Just think about it ok?"

I stared at him and gave a minute nod, his words swirling in my head. For the first time in seven years, I felt a tiny bit of my guilt trickle out of me. It wouldn't all go away, I'd been wallowing in it for too long for that to happen, but it did leave me feeling a little better, which made me think that maybe I shouldn't be recreating the box after all because I certainly hadn't felt any better when it had been in place. Maybe I should be trying my best to deal with the feelings I don't want instead of pretending they don't exist for once. Sure, I had certainly needed the box at the time and I could still remember exactly why I had created it in the first place. After I'd knocked over the snatcher and set Hermione right, I'd then turned towards him and for the first time ever, had felt a hate and loathing so deep that it shook me to the core. I'd held out my hand and using those incredibly strong unfamiliar feelings used a non-verbal summoning spell for the first time, calling my wand to me and holding it to the snatchers throat. My anger and hate had been so huge that I really had wanted to kill him. I think I would have to, had I not felt a hand grip my own and pull the wand away. Hermione had come to her senses. She tugged at me silently, getting me to my feet and dragging me over to the others who stood in a group by the entrance to the dungeon. Most of the people in the room were unconscious, Bellatrix included and seeing his chance the snatcher had slowly gotten to his feet and backed away from us. I remember following his progress across the room, my eyes locked on him, Hermione's hand still firmly pointing my wand towards the ground until we reached everyone and Dobby got us out of there. Unfortunately, Bellatrix hadn't been as out of it as we thought she had been and just as we disappeared, she jumped to her feet and threw a knife she'd had hidden somewhere on her person, fatally hitting Dobby, a fact that no one realised until we arrived at Shell Cottage. Dobby's death that night just made everything worse, and watching Hermione trying to deal with that as well as her trying to comprehend what had happened to her, made me realise that I couldn't afford to have these feelings and fall apart. I needed to be strong. And so the box was created and all the tainted images and emotions pushed down into it. It had sat inside me for seven years, popping open every once in a while in the form of panic attacks and nightmares. But now, with Fred's words, I felt that maybe, just maybe I could get rid of it altogether. I no longer had to walk around with a swirling vortex of darkness inside me. Of course it wouldn't be that easy, but at least it was a start. This realisation made me smile and seeing it, Fred grinned back at me and threw his arm around my shoulder.

"Come on now, I'm hungry, let's go in ok?" I nodded happily and we got to our feet, making our way back to the house.

"So how did you come up with this theory of yours anyway?" I asked Fred quietly as we headed in. He frowned.

"Well it's not actually my theory. After you left last night, I went home pretty quickly. Shit I had to, the only thing stopping both Harry and Ginny attacking me was Mum. She certainly didn't stop George. And Hermione… well let's just say I don't think she'll forgive me as easy as you seem to have, if she ever does" he said, pain skittering across his features briefly. "But anyway, I got home, already regretting what I'd said to you, but still justifying saying it because it was the only way to get rid of some of my own guilt. Holy shit Rosie, that stuff is incredibly hard to deal with. If you've felt like that for the past seven years… I don't know how you managed to handle it without going insane. So I sat on my bed, not moving until George Apperated in and started hoeing into me. After he got his anger out, we sat up all night and talked and it was George who bought Winnie up. And it makes sense. It doesn't relieve all of the guilt, I don't know if aything ever will but it does make me feel a little better. I don't even really know her yet but from just meeting her, I can't help but love her. She's a beautiful little girl, looks exactly like her mother. I wouldn't want her not to be around and as George pointed out, for that to happen, her being conceived had to have not happened." I sighed and nodded slowly. It did make sense.

"So… did George, ah, happen to follow you over here?" I asked in a rush, my gaze anywhere but on him.

"No he had to go meet Katie before work." My gaze shot to Fred's and my heart sank.

"Katie?" I whispered.

"Yeah, Katie Bell, his girlfriend. Been together for a few months now. Going well to. I think he might just…" He trailed off as he met my eyes, his mouth forming a very comical O before he cringed.

"Oh Merlin Rosie, I'm sorry. I didn't realise…"

"No no that's ok" I hurried to assure him. "I'm happy for him really" I said, smiling the fakest smile ever. Fred smiled sadly and patted my shoulder, seeing through me in an instant. He didn't bring it up again though which I was glad about. As we walked into the house, I cursed myself for my own stupidity. Of course he'd have a girlfriend. And even if he didn't, I still wouldn't stand a chance. He didn't think of me that way, never would. I really needed to move on with my life. And as Fred and I stepped through the kitchen door, saw Mrs Weasley, Winnie and Hermione sitting at the table and saw the icy look Hermione gave Fred before completely ignoring him, I sighed and decided to do my best to do just that. It was my guilt that had caused this situation, maybe taking a step in the right direction and putting it and everything else in my past finally behind me would help everyone else take that step as well.


	10. Chapter 10

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosie and Winnie

**Quick A/N – So did anyone actually notice the little mistake I made in Chapter Seven? For those who did, I've tied it into the story in this chapter lol. Hope you like it! Would really love me some reviews!**

"_No no that's ok" I hurried to assure him. "I'm happy for him really" I said, smiling the fakest smile ever. Fred smiled sadly and patted my shoulder, seeing through me in an instant. He didn't bring it up again though which I was glad about. As we walked into the house, I cursed myself for my own stupidity. Of course he'd have a girlfriend. And even if he didn't, I still wouldn't stand a chance. He didn't think of me that way, never would. I really needed to move on with my life. And as Fred and I stepped through the kitchen door, saw Mrs Weasley, Winnie and Hermione sitting at the table and seeing the icy look Hermione gave Fred before completely ignoring him, I sighed and decided to do my best to do just that. It was my guilt that had caused this situation, maybe taking a step in the right direction and putting it and everything else in my past finally behind me would help everyone else take that step as well. _

Chapter Ten.

I wasn't the only one who picked up on Hermione's anger. Beside me, Fred gave an almost inaudible sigh before he sat at the table beside Winnie, who looked up from her cereal and grinned at him. Fred smiled back before turning to thank his mother as she put a plate down in front of him. Mrs Weasley gave a small smile and patted his arm. I watched as a small amount relief flowed through his eyes. At least someone else had forgiven him. As I took my own seat, Hermione turned toward me.

"Are you ok?" she asked quietly, her back deliberately turned to Fred. I smiled at her and nodded.

"I'm fine Hermione. Fred and I talked and he apologized. We're good. You can stop being angry at him now" I said. Hermione sniffed and I knew that she wasn't going to give up her grudge any time soon. I turned to Fred with an apologetic look on my face. He shrugged sadly.

"How come you're up so early Aunt Rosie? You're _never _up this early!" Fred snorted quietly at Winnie's words.

"I just really wanted to watch the sunrise Tabby Cat. It's different here than it is in America you know."

"It is? Why didn't you wake me? I want to see it as well!" she whined. I smiled at her.

"Sorry love. You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I will next time I promise" I assured her.

"Tabby Cat?" Fred asked, questioning my nick name for Winnie. Mrs Weasley looked on in interest as well. I grinned.

"Yeah when Winnie was really little, I told her the story about Crookshanks and how he always used to chase Scabbers around. She piped up and said that if she was a cat, she would do the same thing to. I agreed and said she could be a little tabby cat because the first part of her name was Tabitha. After that the name sort of stuck."

"Aunt Rosie's the only one who calls me that. Not even Mommy does."

"So no one else is allowed to call you that?" Fred asked. Winnie scrunched up her nose, thinking.

"No, only Aunt Rosie. It's special" she said firmly. Fred nodded thoughtfully and then grinned widely.

"I'll be right back" he said before disappearing with a _crack._ Winnie frowned in confusion.

"Where'd he go?" she asked, but before anyone had chance to answer her, Fred was back. My mouth fell open when I saw what he held in his arms. Beside me, Hermione froze before she slowly got to her feet. Winnie's eyes widened and she jumped out of her seat and lunged forward.

"Kitty!" she squealed. The large furry orange bundle in Fred's arms watched her silently, his tail swishing. Before Winnie grabbed him, Fred held out his hand to stop her.

"I think we better give him to your mum first Winnie. He is hers after all and I bet she's missed him as much as he's missed her." Winnie pouted slightly before she nodded. Fred slowly made his way around the table towards Hermione, who stood frozen, her eyes locked on the pet she'd thought she would never see again. When Fred stopped in front of her and held him out, she gulped, her eyes flicking up to Fred's. He nodded in encouragement and Hermione slowly reached for the cat. As the human and the animal stared into each other's eyes, Hermione didn't move a muscle until Crookshanks stood slightly in her arms and butted his head against her chin, purring loudly. At this Hermione broke and she buried her face into Crookshanks long fur, tears falling silently down her cheeks. As I watched, I felt Winnie slip her hand into mine. I looked down at her to see a frown on her face.

"Why is Mommy crying Aunt Rosie?" she asked.

"She's just really happy Tabby Cat. She didn't think she'd ever see Crookshanks again and now she is so she's crying tears of happiness." Winnie's eyes widened once again.

"That's Crookshanks?" she asked and I nodded smiling. Upon hearing our conversation, Hermione sniffed and wiped her wet cheeks before bringing Crookshanks over to us and crouching down.

"Winnie, meet Crookshanks. The best cat in the world" she said. Winnie stared at the cat who once again stared back. The little girl slowly reached out her hand and began petting him, which caused him to purr louder.

"He's so soft" she cooed. I grinned. Seems Winnie had been accepted into his family as well. Turning towards Fred, who was standing to the side with his arm around a beaming Mrs Weasley, I quickly went over and gave him a hug.

"You did good Fredster" I said quietly. He grinned back at me. Pulling back, I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Have you had him all this time?" I asked. Hermione's head came up as she heard my question. Fred nodded.

"Once it became obvious you guys weren't coming back, I went and got him from Mrs Figgs's house and bought him back to stay with George and I. Didn't think he was going to accept it at first, but we brought him round. Took a lot, and I mean _a lot_ of persuasion, tuna as well, but we won him over eventually. Now you're back though, he can go back to where he belongs."

Hermione stared at Fred in silence for a minute before she turned back to her daughter. If you didn't know her as well as I did, you wouldn't have picked up on the slight softening in her eyes before she turned away. I look at Fred, wondering if he had seen it. Going by the relieved grin on his face, he had. I smiled to myself, glad that all was not lost on that front. If there ever was a couple meant to be together, even after all this time, it was these two.

Once Hermione and Winnie had finished petting and cooing over Crookshanks, who soaked it all up like any superior minded cat should, they got back up to the table to finish their breakfast. By then the others were slowly making their way downstairs to breakfast as well. They were all surprised to see Fred at the table and as a result, were a little standoffish to him at first, but once they saw how easy I was with him, they slowly thawed until Hermione was the only one still ignoring him. Stubborn woman. She could hold a grudge like nobody's business. Soon the conversation around the table flowed as easily as it had seven years ago. I grinned happily as I watched everyone get reacquainted. I was describing our old apartment in New York to Luna when Mr Weasley asked where we were staying.

"At Harry and Ginny's at the moment" Hermione said. "We hope to find our own place as soon as possible though."

"You know that you can stay with us as long as you need to" Ginny said as she wiped Albus's mouth. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah we do know but you guys need your own space as well. Plus Hogsmede isn't really the best place to look for employment. And I'd rather not Apperate if I didn't have to" I said with a rueful smile.

"Well with only us living here now, there's plenty of room here dears. You're most welcome" Mrs Weasley said. Hermione looked at me and raised her eyebrow in question. I sighed.

"Thanks Mrs Weasley, but that would cause the same problem. My, ah, reaction when we first got here wasn't very pleasant and I would like to keep using that mode of transportation to a minimum if at all possible" I said apologetically.

"Well what about the flat then?" Fred said quietly, having been listening to our conversation in silence. Hermione and I looked at him in surprise.

"What flat?" I asked.

"The one above the shop. As you know, it's in Diagon Alley, so there would be more job opportunities and Rosie wouldn't have to Apperate. And it's empty at the moment."

"But don't you and George live there?" Hermione asked.

"Not anymore. George forked out and bought a house about a year ago. He was sick of not being able to get away from the place, even after the shop had closed for the day. It's only a street or so away."

"But you guys love that shop! Why would you want to get away from it?"

"Yeah we did, and we still do, but George didn't want it to be his whole life anymore. Since I agreed with him up to a point, I went with him. Verity did live there for a few months after we moved but she's since moved in with her fiancé. So it's available if you guys want it. There's plenty of room for the three of you and going by what Rosie was saying about your flat in New York, I'd say the two places were about the same size. And you don't have to worry about rent if you don't want to."

I snorted to myself. Hermione wasn't going to put up with that, and sure enough, she frowned severely as he said this.

"Of course we would pay you rent! You would expect any other tenants to wouldn't you?"

"Yeah but-"

"No buts Fred. If we take it, we will pay our way" she stated. Fred frowned.

"Ok but you're not paying the going rate. No, I'm not backing down on this" he said firmly as Hermione opened her mouth to argue.

"Don't you guys think we better take a look at the place first before we make any decisions?" I interrupted them. They both jumped slightly, having forgotten once again that they weren't the only ones in the room, and turned to me.

"Yeah you're right. We should look at it. What do you say Winnie? Want to go take a look at a place that could be our new home today? If that's all right with you?" she asked Fred a little stiffly. He nodded and Winnie began bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement, which James immediately began to copy.

"Yeah! Let's go, let's go!" she yelled. Hermione smiled at her as everyone chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"Finish your breakfast first and then we'll go" she said and then sighed as Winnie began to shovel her cereal into her mouth, spilling half of it on the floor in the process.

Since I'd already told everyone that I didn't want to Apperate, Fred decided that we would floo instead. He explained to us that the flat wasn't connected to the floo network at the moment, as no one was living there, so we would floo to the shop first and walk up to the flat. I was a little apprehensive about this. I really didn't want to run into George and Katie. I knew that I would have to meet her eventually, or as the case may be, re-meet her since we had gone to the same school, but I didn't think I was up to it just yet. I was still trying to get used to the fact that George had a girlfriend in the first place. Something must have showed in my expression, because after meeting my eyes, Fred made a point of saying that Katie worked at Quality Quidditch Supplies and that they were extremely busy at the moment, what with the world cup was coming up, so we wouldn't have a chance to meet her just yet. I sighed in relief and Fred grinned at me teasingly. Hermione watched this exchange between the two of us silently and before she turned away to hurry Winnie up, I swear I saw her eyes soften a little bit more. I turned back to Fred and gave him a thumbs up and he smiled happily at me. As the three of us stood over by the fireplace waiting for Winnie, everyone else was taking their leave as well, Ginny to St Mungo's, Harry and his sons to Hogwarts, Mr Weasley to the Ministry, Luna to her childhood home as she was now the editor of the Quibbler and Ron to the Ministry as well as he was a member of The Department of Magical Games and Sports.

Before everyone left, Mrs Weasley made them all promise to come back that night for an official reunion dinner. Said she'd invite Bill and Fleur and Percy as well. Winnie frowned in puzzlement when she heard this. I don't think she could remember who Percy was. As I hadn't really liked Percy all that much in school and I actively loathed him when he turned his back on his family, I hadn't talked about him much, if at all, in our stories. Sure, I was glad when he came to his senses and I'd empathised with him when he was agonising over not being able to stop the wall from falling on Fred, but that still didn't mean I liked him. Hmm. Seems Hermione isn't the only one who can hold a grudge. But anyway, everyone agreed to come back, and once Winnie had come scampering down the stairs, Fred took a handful of floo powder, stepped into the fireplace, threw it down and cried "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" Winnie gasped in amazement as Fred disappeared in a roar of green flames. Hermione then gripped her hand and they also stepped into the fireplace, Winnie trembling with excitement and a little bit of fear. With a throw and a cry, they were gone as well. Now it was my turn. I took a handful of powder and, once I was in the right position, took a deep breath, threw it and cried out the name of the twins famous joke shop. The green flames flashed over me and I was sucked into the floo network. I watched as fireplace after fireplace flew by me, by arms tucked tightly into my sides. Most people would describe flooing as a lot worse than Apperating, but I very much preferred it. The only reason we didn't floo home instead of Apperating was because the American floo network isn't connected to the English one, so it was impossible. Finally I found myself coming to my destination, by body hurtling towards a single fireplace until suddenly I was through it and tumbling out on to the floor. I gasped in pain as I landed, cracking my elbow on the ground. Even though I preferred flooing, I was no longer used to it and couldn't land on my feet like I used to be able to do. I lay there for a minute, breathing through the pain, before I rolled over and went to pull myself up. Someone else beat me to it though. As I was hauled to my feet, I looked around and found myself staring straight into George Weasley's eyes. He grinned at me as he set me down and I smiled somewhat shakily back, my heart racing at the sight of those amazingly beautiful blue eyes. Funny how I'd never reacted this way to Fred, even though they were identical twins and everything about them was supposed to be exactly the same. Fred had _never _sent shudders down my spine from the sound of his voice alone.

"Ok then?" George asked softly, staring at me. I nodded and quickly pulled myself away from him, walking over to Hermione and Winnie who were waiting by the door that led to the front of the shop.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road!" Fred cried before grabbing Winnie's hand and dragging her after him, up the stairs and to the door that led to the flat. Hermione and I followed, Winnie's giggles echoing down at us. Once we reached them, Fred pulled out his wand and unlocked the door before flinging it open and gesturing grandly.

"Welcome to the most amazing flat in the world!" he cried.

"Mainly because the two of us used to live here of course" George said from behind us.

"Of course! Come in, come in. Make yourself at home" Fred said before shuffling us into the room. We had seen it before of course, but back then it was packed with everything the twins thought they needed so you couldn't really gage the size. You could now though and as we walked through the rooms, I gasped at the light that filled them from the large windows and the amount of space there seemed to be. There was three bedrooms, two large ones and a smaller one, a large living room, no dining room but the size of the kitchen made up for that and a small office that when Hermione and I saw it, we grinned at each other, both thinking the same thing. Library. Wow, this really wasn't what I remembered it to be at all! It didn't take long for us to go over the whole place, and once we were done, I knew that we wouldn't be able to find a better flat, especially at the price the twins were insisting on giving it to us at. It was perfect and I wanted it so badly. But I wasn't the only one in the equation. I looked at Hermione and raised my eyebrows hopefully. She looked at me then looked around the place a final time. She then looked at her daughter, who had spent the last ten minutes running around the place in excitement.

"What do you think Winnie? Like it?" she asked. Winnie grinned at her.

"It's awesome Mommy! It's so big! And it's above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes! I can go down there all the time! It'll be so cool!" she raved. I grinned and Hermione groaned slightly at her words. Lord knows what the little minx will get up to if she gets anything from that shop.

"Well that's the final vote, which I guess makes it three out of three. It looks like we have a place to live" Hermione said and Winnie started jumping up and down, yelling her happiness. Fred and George, who hadn't said a word during our deliberating, grinned at her antics. I turned to them.

"When can we move in?" I asked. "Is tomorrow too soon?"

The twins looked at each other before they both shook their heads. I grinned, as excited as Winnie. Fred came over to us and pulled a key out of his pocket, even though we didn't need one, handing it to Hermione.

"Welcome home" he said.

That night was a lot of fun, everyone celebrating being together again as well as celebrating Hermione's, Winnie's and my new place. Bill and Fleur brought Victoire, who had grown up to be a beautiful young girl. Winnie absolutely adored her. They also revealed that they were pregnant again, which gave us another reason to celebrate. Harry and Ginny brought Teddy as well and by the look on Winnie's face, I thought maybe she might have her first crush. Percy came as well but he didn't stay very long. I don't think anyone missed him. The three older children ran outside to play on Teddy's baby broom after dinner, James following as fast as he could behind them, determined to keep up. Once they had gone and Albus had been put to bed, the adults settled into the living room. Games like Exploding Snap were set up and butterbeer was drunk. It was a wonderful evening - that is until Fred brought the mood down considerably.

"So… did you ever find out what happened to that snatcher? Winnies, ah, birth father?"

That shut everyone up. We all turned to look at him and he stared back definitely, his jaw clenched.

"Fred, can't you just let this go?" George asked quietly.

"No George, I can't. He deserves to be punished for what he did! You all must agree with that!" Slowly nods flowed around the room. I stared at my hands.

"I never saw him again after that day. I have no idea what happened to him" Hermione whispered, her gaze fixed on the fireplace.

"Well don't you think we should find him? And turn him in at least? He can't get away with it! The Aurors should-"

"He didn't get away with it."

Fred stopped his ranting at my words and stared at me.

"What?"

"He didn't get away with it. And you won't find him either." I continued to stare at my hands until Hermione came over and crouched down in front of me.

"Rosie, what are you talking about? What did you do?"

My head came up and I stared directly into her eyes.

"You won't find him. Because he's dead. I killed him myself."


	11. Chapter 11

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from Rosie and Winnie. Oh, and the storyline.

"_Well don't you think we should find him? And turn him in at least? He can't get away with it! The Aurors should-"_

"_He didn't get away with it."_

_Fred stopped his ranting at my words and stared at me._

"_What?"_

"_He didn't get away with it. And you won't find him either." I continued to stare at my hands until Hermione came over and crouched down in front of me._

"_Rosie, what are you talking about? What did you do?"_

_My head came up and I stared directly into her eyes._

"_You won't find him. Because he's dead. I killed him myself."_

Chapter Eleven.

I honestly have no idea what made me tell everyone like that. It wasn't something I had ever really planned on revealing, and if I did decide to change my mind, I only would've told Hermione. But by the way Fred was talking; it didn't seem like something he would let go very easily. And knowing that all Hermione wanted to do was move on and not let that day and the people involved influence her life anymore, I knew that if he kept obsessing about it, their relationship wouldn't stand a chance. So without even really thinking about it, I blurted it out. And now I would have to deal with the consequences. You could have heard a pin drop in that room after I made my confession. Everyone seemed to be frozen in shock and disbelief. I kept my gaze fixed firmly on Hermione, not looking anywhere but into her horrified eyes. She didn't move a muscle for a heartbeat of two, staring at me with her mouth on the floor. She then blinked slowly and gulped, shaking her head frantically.

"No you didn't! I stopped you from doing that!" she exclaimed.

"At the Manor you did. You weren't around later though" I said quietly. My words seemed to sink in this time and Hermione's eyes filled with an unimaginable sadness.

"Oh Gods Rosie, your beliefs" she moaned. I sighed and got up, pushing past Hermione to go stare out the window. Winnie, Teddy, Victoire and James were running around outside, laughing like loons. Oh to be that innocent.

"Ok… ah…hmm. When did this happen?" Fred asked, his voice rough.

"During the Final Battle. We were all separated and I was outside on the grounds, out by the cliff when I saw him. I recognised him instantly. Not that I'd ever forget his face anyway" I said with a bitter laugh. "He must have recognised me as well, because as soon as our eyes met, he pulled out his wand and started firing all sorts of dark spells. I defended myself and truthfully, that's all I had really planned on doing. Defending myself and hopefully getting a binding spell on him so that I could turn him into the right people. I was winning too. But then I heard a terrified scream and I automatically turned towards it, stupidly thinking I could help. Seeing my distraction, that horrible man fired an _Avada Kedavra _at me." I spun around to face Hermione again, desperately trying to get her to understand.

"_Avada Kedavra _Hermione! It came _this close _to hitting me! And you know the reason I'm still standing here talking to you instead of lying in a coffin? It's because at that moment part of the school exploded, shaking everything and knocking us to the ground." I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "As I fell, I watched as that flash of green light zoomed straight over my head. Right in the place where I had been standing not two seconds before. And I got angry. Really really angry. The only other time I've ever been that enraged was at the Manor. I've never felt that way since, nor do I ever want to again. It was such a black emotion and completely all-consuming. What the guy had done to you and now, what he'd just tried to do to me, it all swelled up inside me and in the next instant I found myself standing over him, my wand once again pointed at his throat."

My words picked up speed, running together and I screwed my eyes shut and clenched my fists, hurrying as fast as I could through the most horrible part. "He stared at me for a moment before he lunged up and grabbed my arms, knocking my wand down and suddenly my wand was poking him an the stomach and he snarled at me and punched me in the face and my head snapped back and my wand came up and he jerked me towards him and my wand rammed into this chest and I don't know if it was because I was really scared and really angry, but suddenly my wand went off, flashing brightly and the snatcher stumbled back, blood dripping from his chest and he lost his footing and fell backwards further and suddenly he was gone. Just gone. He'd fallen off the cliff."

I stopped, breathing heavily and risked raising my eyes. Every single person in the room was focused on me. No one said a word until Hermione took a small step towards me.

"So you didn't really kill him then. It was an accident."

"No it wasn't. I used _Sectumsempra_ Hermione. My wand was drilling into his chest when it went off and at that distance there would have been no way he wouldn't have been fatally injured. It doesn't matter that he fell. I still would have been the reason he died."

"Yes, but you didn't mean to use it though Rosie. You just wanted to get him off you and your magic reacted to that. You have no reason to feel guilty."

Hermione was standing directly in front of me now, gripping my hands in hers. She shook them repeatedly as she tried to get me to understand her point of view. I stared into her eyes and slowly shook my head.

"That's just the thing Mione. I don't feel guilty. At all. I was horrified at the time, the speed of it shocked me, but after I had checked to see if he was somehow still alive, I was _glad_. Glad he was no longer around to cause anyone any more pain. I killed him and I'm not sorry I did it."

"If you had the chance to go back and change the outcome, would you?" My head swung around to face George and I frowned.

"Oh course I would!"

"Well then doesn't that prove that you didn't really mean to attack him that way? If you could've stopped yourself, you would have. So it was an accident." I stared at him and he stared back, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Well I for one am glad he's gone. At least he's no longer around to haunt everyone and we can all finally move on" Fred spoke up firmly. As everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, my mouth fell open. Didn't these people just hear what I'd said? That I'd killed someone and was glad I had? How could they be so calm? Seeing my expression, Mr Weasley got up and came over to me, putting his hands on my shoulders.

"It's ok to be happy when a problem is finally solved Rosie. Maybe that's simplifying the situation a bit but you must agree that he was a monster in every sense of the word. Bellatrix didn't use _Imperio_ on him to get him to do what he did to Hermione did she?" I silently shook my head. "Well then, that means he willingly did it and that makes him a terrible unworthy person. By doing what you did, however advertently, you probably saved a lot of other people as well. While I do agree that bringing him into custody would have been better, and less traumatic for you, you must not feel guilty over being glad someone that tainted is no more."

And that hit it straight on the head. No I didn't feel guilty over causing his death, but the guilt over using a dark curse, which betrayed my beliefs, and being glad I had was one the many things that still kept me up at night.

"Besides, it takes practise to deliberately use a non-verbal spell and have it do want you want it to do, so think of the _Sectumsempra_ as accidental magic. You couldn't have stopped yourself from doing it because you didn't know you were going to do it in the first place."

Holy shit, he was right. I _had _just reacted to the situation. I couldn't help it. I hadn't deliberately thrown away the belief system I had built my life around. A wide smile appeared on my face and Hermione laughed and hugged me.

"See, nothing to worry about. It was an accident. A horrible accident, but an accident still" she whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes and hugged her back hard. We were about to pull away when a little bullet slammed into us, almost knocking us over. We looked down in surprise as Winnie threw her arms around our legs, yabbering about being included in the family hugs. Laughing once more, Hermione hurled her up into her arms.

"I think it's time we went back to Harry and Ginny's. It'll take forever for this one to go to sleep tonight and I want her to get as much sleep as she can. Tomorrow's going to be a big day for her. Cause what are we doing tomorrow Winnie?"

"We're moving! Into the flat above Fred and George's shop! It's going to be so much fun!" she cried causing laughter to fill the room.

Hermione was right. It did take a long time for Winnie to settle down enough to go to sleep. The girl was over stimulated. But sleep she eventually did which Hermione and I were very grateful for. She is a lovely, engaging, wonderfully happy little girl but boy, did she ever have some energy! It really tires you out sometimes. I went to bed that night expecting to not get much sleep, what with the topic of that evenings conversation, but the next thing I knew, Winnie was being her annoyingly chipper self by my bedside at eight the next morning. Groaning, I picked up my pillow and threw it at her. She laughed and expertly dodged it just as Hermione walked into the room, already dressed and ready to go. She smiled at the sight of me trying to pretend that the sun didn't exist.

"Come on Winnie, let's go downstairs and let your aunt wake up properly ok?" Winnie nodded and took off running down the stairs. Yup. Definitely tiring at times. Hermione turned back to me.

"If you're not up in 15 minutes, I'm sending Winnie back up to get you" she warned. I huffed and turned over.

"Yes mum" I grumbled. Hermione laughed and left me in peace. Fourteen minutes later, I dragged myself out of bed and almost tripped over Crookshanks who was sitting in a lump on the floor, directly in front of me. I glared down at him and he stared back at me with what I swear was humour in his eyes. He'd been doing this for as long as I'd known him, sitting in front of wherever I was, just waiting to send me flying. It was like his day wasn't complete unless he tried to put me on my ass, his highest success rate being when he tried it in the mornings. Bloody cat. I stepped over him with an annoyed sniff and shut myself in the bathroom. There better be coffee when I get downstairs or I wouldn't be responsible for my actions.

Fortunately, there was, and sometime later, Hermione, Winnie, Ginny, who had taken the day off to give us a hand, and I flooed over to the shop. Fred still hadn't gotten the fireplace in the flat re-hooked up to the network yet so at the moment, we had to use theirs. Luckily with a shrinking charm we only had to make the one trip. When we got there, Winnie stuck her head through the door leading to the front of the shop and waved enthusiastically to the twins, who gave a distracted acknowledgement back, both of them up to their eyeballs in customers. Busy day for them it seemed. Not wanting to disturb them too much, I grabbed Winnie's hand and hustled her up the stairs, unlocking the door at the top with an _Alohomora_. The flat looked as welcoming as it had the day before and as Winnie hopped around the place, exclaiming over everything, Hermione and I stood in the doorway and grinned until Ginny nudged at us from behind.

"Well are we going to set this place up or what?" she asked. We quickly stepped into the room and I lifted the backpack off my shoulder and set it down. When she saw what I was up to, Winnie rushed over and helped me unload it. We placed all of the large items in their corresponding rooms and with a wave of her wand, Hermione called _Engorgio_ and all of our furniture returned to its normal size. Winnie laughed in wonderment as she watched this and then, with us following, she took off to her room. It didn't take long to set up Winnie's bed and bedroom furniture, using the three of us to levitate the items where she wanted them and we soon moved on to the rest of the flat. After a lot of muttering and swishing and flicking, everything was set out to the way we liked it. We collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted from all of the spell casting. The twins found us still sitting there half an hour later as they checked up on us on their lunch break.

"Oi, look at these lazy asses would you George! Lying around, doing nothing."

"Make's you sad at what our generation's come to doesn't it Fred?"

"It sure does Georgie, it sure does."

Ginny grinned as Hermione threw them, or should I say Fred, a glare and I poked my tongue out at them. Winnie giggled and jumped up from the floor where she was playing with a set of Knuckle Bones, running over and grabbing the twins' hands.

"Fred! George! Come see my room! It's amazing!" she cried, tugging them after her. They followed her willingly and Fred smiled over his shoulder at Hermione, who sniffed and deliberately looked away. I watched as the smile fell off Fred's' face as he left the room before I turned to Hermione.

"You're going to have to forgive him one of these days you know. He's a fixture in our lives and I'm pretty positive he still loves you" I said. Ginny nodded in agreement. Hermione seemed to freeze for a second before she huffed, not saying anything. I rolled my eyes. Stubborn woman.

It was later that day, after Ginny had left and Hermione had taken Winnie out to explore Diagon Alley, that I decided to go do a little exploring myself. I would have gone with the other two but I could tell Hermione wanted to spend a little time alone with her daughter so I left them to it. I really needed to start looking for a job. Not that we were poor or anything, but our savings wouldn't last for ever and plus I didn't think I'd be able to sit around all day and do nothing for very much longer. I needed to have something to do. So, locking the door, I made my way downstairs through the outside entrance, running into Fred when I got down there.

"You're not closing already are you?" I asked him as he locked the front entrance to the shop.

"Only for half an hour or so. Got to go pick up a few things and since Verity's off sick and George had to go meet Katie, this is the only option. If someone wants something desperately enough, they'll come back for it" he said. "So where are you off to? Hermione still upstairs?" he asked, his eyes lit up with hope. I shook my head, desperately trying not to think about exactly what George and Katie were up to at the moment and failing miserably.

"No sorry, she took Winnie out to explore the alley. Won't be back for a while I don't think." Fred sighed with disappointment, his eyes far away as we started walking down the street.

"Think she'll ever forgive me?" he asked quietly. I pursed my lips in thought.

"I think so; it'll just take some persistence on your part I think. Don't give up." He frowned.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not so sure about that myself. You saw the way she acted today. I don't think she loves me anymore, if she even loved me at all in the first place."

Fred's softly spoken words blew me away. Hermione not love him? What the hell was he talking about?

"Ok that's complete and utter bullshit. What the bloody hell made you even think that?" I exclaimed.

"Look at what she did when she found out about Winnie. Instead of trying to talk to me seven years ago, she chose to leave instead. That doesn't really sound like love to me." I stared at him, utterly flabbergasted. Pulling him to a stop, I grabbed his shoulders.

"Fred, what's Winnie's full name?" I asked him. He stared at me in confusion.

"Umm… Tabitha Winifred Rosalyn Granger?" he said and I smiled to myself, pleased that he cared about the girl enough to find out those little details.

"Yes that's right. Tabitha Winifred. Wini_fred_. You know, the feminine version of the name of a person that we both know quite well?" Fred frowned in confusion for a minute before comprehension dawned in his eyes and a slow smile of wonderment spread across his face.

"She named her daughter after _me_?" he asked in amazement.

"That she did. Winifred would have been her full first name if her parents hadn't gotten their noses out of joint. So don't you dare say that she didn't love you. And trust me, she still does. You just have to remind her of that fact. I trust you're up to the challenge?" Fred nodded, still grinning widely. I grinned back and we started walking again, chatting happily, until Fred stopped.

"Well this is my stop. You never did tell me where you were going" he said but I wasn't listening. My gaze was focused on the Help Wanted signed fixed firmly in the window of none other than Florish & Blotts. I laughed to myself. Oh this was perfect. Grabbing Fred's hand, I dragged him inside and 15 minutes later, walked out and happily watched as the sign was taken down. I would be starting there the next day. After I had made a quick phone call and the management had accepted that they_ were _able to speak to someone in another country via the small machine in my hand, they didn't even have to think about it. Which frankly didn't surprise me, what with the way my old boss raved about me on the phone. So I now had a job. Plus, after working my first day at my most favourite bookstore in the world, Hermione, Winnie and I had a rehearsal dinner to attend. Ron and Luna had come over to us just as we were leaving the night before and officially invited us. Luna even apologized for not being able to fit us into the actual wedding party. So we now had an excellent place to live, I had a job I knew I'd love, we were going to the wedding of two of our closest friends, Fred and Hermione were going to get their happy ending if Fred had anything to say about it and I had decided that, if I couldn't have the one I wanted, I would start looking for mine somewhere else. I smiled. We both deserved to be happy. And from all the luck we'd had in the past couple of days, good luck that counteracted the bad stuff, it seems like we'd made a very good start.


	12. Chapter 12

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the storyline, Rosie and Winnie

**Quick A/N – A huge thank you to the guest 'Loving it' for their amazing review. What a wonderful thing to say! You really made my day. If you sign in and become a member, next time I can answer you personally. That's if there is a next time lol. And to everyone else, thanks as well and keep those reviews coming. Ok that's enough from me. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter Twelve.

_So we now had an excellent place to live, I had a job I knew I'd love, we were going to the wedding of two of our closest friends, Fred and Hermione were going to get their happy ending if Fred had anything to say about it and I had decided that, if I couldn't have the one I wanted, I would start looking for mine somewhere else. We both deserved to be happy. And from all the luck we'd had in the past couple of days, it seems like we'd made a very good start. _

Before I went to bed that night, I made sure I set at least four alarms so that I wouldn't be late for my first day at work. Four may seem a lot, but believe me; I would need all of them to make me get up in time. And need them all I did. Once the fourth alarm had gone off right next to my ear, ringing loudly in accompaniment with the other three, I groaned and finally pulled myself out of bed. I stumbled to the bathroom and 20 minutes later, headed out to the kitchen, still in a daze. Both Hermione and Winnie were already up and with an amused smile, Hermione silently handed me my coffee.

"Are you excited about you're first day Aunt Rosie?" Winnie asked. As soon as the two of them had come home the night before, I had been unable to contain myself and the news had just burst out of me. Hermione had been thrilled that I had found exactly the type of job I had been looking for and also pleased that we would now have at least one source of income coming into the house. Winnie had been happy for me as well, but mainly excited about getting free books. I had laughed and told her not to expect this; the management weren't as close to us as my old boss had been. She had pouted and then brightened, saying she would just have to make herself known to them as soon as possible. Cheeky little monkey. Anyway, I turned to her and since the coffee was doing what it was designed to do, I was able to answer her in full sentences.

"Very excited Tabby Cat. It's going to be a lot of fun. You and Hermione are going to have fun today as well I hear."

"Yeah! Mommy and I are going to go look at the primary school Victoire and Teddy go to! I can see them every day if I go there! It'll be so cool!" I laughed as she bounced up and down in her seat.

"Well make sure you tell me all about it tonight after the rehearsal" I said.

"Not tonight! Tomorrow! I'm going back to Victoire's house after the rehearsal and we're having a sleepover! We ran into them yesterday and she asked me! "

"Are you now? Well then, that'll be fun. Well you can tell me about that tomorrow as well. And don't leave out a single detail. I want to know every little dastardly thing you two get up to!" I said teasingly. As she laughed and promised she would, I put my cup in the sink and picked up my bag that I'd set by the door the night before and swung it over my shoulder.

"Well I'd best be off then" I said. Hermione nodded, grabbed something off the bench and handed it to me. I laughed when I saw what it was. She'd made me a packed lunch.

"You know I can just come home for lunch, it's only a 10 minute walk" I told her. "Or there are plenty of other places I can buy my lunch from. You didn't have to do this." She grinned sheepishly.

"I know but I wanted to. This is better for you and you won't have to waste any time coming home and making it" she said. I shook my head in amusement. Once a mother, always a mother. I tucked the sandwich into my bag and looked at Hermione.

"So have you got plans for after you come home tonight then, since you'll be child free? Maybe ones with a certain twin? Because I can make myself scarce" I teased her. She scowled.

"No I haven't. I'm going to spend the night researching. I need to find a job as well." I shook my head again, this time in frustration.

"Stop being so stubborn Hermione. He's more than sorry for what he said. You have to let this go." She frowned and turned towards her daughter, hurrying her along.

"You better go if you want to get there in time" she said, changing the subject. I rolled my eyes and opened the door.

"Rosie?" I turned back to Hermione who gave me a quick smile. "Good luck and have a good day ok?" I smiled at her and said I would and as Winnie called out her goodbyes as well, I headed out the door into Diagon Alley.

As first days went, it was a pretty good one. Since I was already familiar with a lot of what of what went on in the store, as most bookstores are pretty similar whether they were magical or not, my boss spent part of the day showing me the way they ran things and then left me to it. This store was a lot busier than my old bookstore was and before I knew it, the day had ended and I had made it through. I slowly made my way home and just as I was about to head up through the outside entrance, the door to the joke shop opened and Fred stuck his head out.

"Hey Rosie, get in here! We want to know all about your first day!" I laughed and stepped through the door. Only a couple of customers wandered around the shop and since Verity looked like she was on top of them, I followed Fred into the back room. George was sitting at the desk, writing something in a big book. He turned his head as the door opened and smiled at me.

"So how'd it go Rosie? Have fun?" he asked, his amazing eyes filled with merriment. I swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah it was good. Quite a bit like my old job. Got to help a few people find what they were looking for and I got to check out all the new stuff that's come out since the last time I was there." Fred raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice puzzled. I turned to him.

"I haven't really read anything new from the magical world in seven years. Just the occasional Christmas and birthday present." Fred's eyes widened.

"But you love to read! Why would you cut yourself off?" he asked.

"We wanted to keep a low profile and the best way to do that was to go back to the muggle way of life. We did catch a few things here and there but we mainly just reread what we had or read muggle books" I explained. Fred frowned and opened his mouth to speak again when the door swung open.

"Rosie you in there? How'd it go? I want all the details - oh."

Hermione stood in the doorway, an uncomfortable expression crossing her face as she saw Fred.

"Sorry, Verity said I could come back here. I don't mean to intrude" she said primly. Fred scowled.

"Bloody hell woman, you're not intruding! You're more than welcome here!" Hermione sniffed and turned her nose up.

"Well I didn't come back here to get sworn at. Rosie I'll see you upstairs" she said before marching across the room and heading up to the flat. Fred stared after her, a look of incredibility on his face before his mouth firmed.

"Sorry Rosie, I'll talk to you later. I'm going to go sort this out once and for all" he said, following Hermione up the stairs. I heard him knock on the door and then Hermione's voice as she answered. He spoke to her and even though I couldn't hear his words, I did hear the frustration in them, before they faded away and a door slammed. He must have pushed his way in. I grinned. My money was on Fred. Suddenly a laugh rang through the room and I quickly turned around.

"Well it's about time. Seems like my brother finally grew some balls. Took him long enough don't you think?"

I stared at George as he grinned at me, the only two people in the room. We were now alone. Together. Oh Sweet Merlin. As my imagination ran wild, I gulped and gave him a weak smile.

"Ah, yeah, it was a long time coming. Hopefully they'll get-" I was interrupted by muffled voices echoing through the ceiling as Fred and Hermione shouted at each other. My head swung up and I listened as their argument grew louder and louder. Suddenly there was a loud BANG and a muffled shriek and as silence rained down on us, I looked a George in fear before bolting up the stairs. George swore and hurriedly shoved his stuff away before following me. Reaching the top, I swung the door open, expecting to find the worse, only to stop dead. Hermione and Fred stood in the middle of the room, locked in each other's arms, kissing ferociously. Hermione's arms were vised around Fred's neck while one of Fred's hands was buried deep in Hermione's hair, the other tightly gripping her hip. As I stood there, frozen in shock, Fred's hand tightened even further on her hip and he yanked her closer if that was possible, slamming her body against his before changing the angle of the kiss, causing Hermione to moan. The sound broke me out of my stupor and I hurriedly backpedalled towards the door, spotting out the corner of my eye a book lying haphazardly on the floor. That must have been the bang. Hermione had thrown it at him. With one last look at the obilvious couple, I stepped out of the room, quietly closing the door after me. Not that they would have noticed if I'd slammed the door. Those two wouldn't have noticed a bomb going off at the moment, wrapped so tightly up in each other as they were. I turned around to make my way back downstairs and give them some privacy and ran straight into a very male chest. George's arms came up and around me as he stopped me from falling backwards and I stopped breathing as I found myself being surrounded by him. I looked up into his eyes and maybe it was the intense scene I had just walked in on or maybe it was just me, but at that moment, I had a sudden very strong urge to kiss him. He stared back down at me and he must have read something in my eyes because his eyes widened before they seemed to darken slightly and he stilled. The moment stretched on endlessly, neither if us moving, until a soft groan echoed through the door behind me, breaking the spell. George blinked and stepped back, shaking his head before his gaze focused on the door. As another moan came through the door, his eyes widened again and he swung towards me, smirking in debrief.

"They're not...?" he asked, laughter in his voice. I blushed and nodded quickly before turning and almost running back down the stairs, George's quiet chuckles following me. Once I got down to the shop again, I stopped and frowned, unsure what to do with myself. It was quite obvious I wouldn't be able to go back to the flat for a while. I just hoped that their… activities wouldn't make them late for the rehearsal. Then again I hoped that they were late. I smirked to myself. I'd never let Hermione live down the fact that she and Fred were literally so wrapped up in each other that they forgot about everything else.

"So what do you want to do now? Go get a butterbeer?"

I spun back round to face George who had snuck up behind me without me noticing and now was a lot closer then I was comfortable with.

"Umm… what about the shop though? Don't you have to stay here?" I asked. George shook his head.

"No. Verity's closing tonight. Because of the rehearsal you know? I'm done for the day. Come on, let's go. You don't really want to hang around here, knowing what's going on upstairs do you? We can grab a quick drink and then head to the rehearsal together." I grimaced slightly and sighed. He was right. I didn't want to be here. While I was happy Hermione and Fred had sorted themselves out, hanging around here with George while _that _went on above my head definitely wouldn't make my feelings for George any easier to ignore. Spending time with him wouldn't either but at the moment, it was the lesser of the two evils.

"Ok then, but only one" I said.

"So where's Winnie then?" George asked as we walked towards The Leaky Cauldron.

"She's with Bill and Fleur. They picked her up at the same time they picked up Victoire after school. Her and Hermione were there to check the place out. She'll go to the rehearsal with them and then go back to their place for a sleepover afterwards. Winnie's so excited. Apparently Victoire asked her specially." George nodded silently and pursed his lips. I tried not to stare at them.

"You know, I think that's the longest sentence you've said to me in years. Not counting the years you were away of course" he said, frowning in thought. I stared at him before quickly looking away.

"I… umm… don't know what you're talking about" I muttered to the ground.

"Sure you do Rosie. You don't talk to me. You don't even like being in the same room as me. It's as if you don't like me at all, though I can't think of any reason why. I'm an amazing person, really" he said with a grin, modest as always. By then we had reached the pub and after ordering, were sitting at a table in the courtyard on the alley side of it. George's words weren't accusing me of anything, it seemed like he was just making an observation. I frowned and stared at the table. I didn't want him to think I didn't like him. But unfortunately what he'd said was true. I _did_ try my best not to be in the same room as him and as a result, didn't talk to him much. In the early years of my obsession with him I'd tried to be his friend but after I'd heard that painful conversation, I couldn't even do that. It hurt too much. So I'd avoided him as much as possible.

"Hey Rosie, its ok if you don't like me you know. You don't have to like everyone. I'll just try my hardest to change your opinion." My head came up and I stared at him.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I whispered.

"Because you're a really good person and I can see how guilty you feel at the moment for not thinking of me as a friend" he said. I stared at him and he smiled softly back.

"I do think of you as a friend George. It's just that…ah… well… " George grinned at me and sat back in his chair, taking a sip of his butterbeer which had been placed in front of us a couple of minutes before.

"You know, you never were a very good liar Rosie. But that's ok. As I said, I'll just have to change your mind. Just so you know, you have been warned" he said grinning and I found myself grinning back at him briefly before looking back at the table. The longer I looked into his eyes, the faster my heart and breathing raced and fearing he'd notice any second, I excused myself with the excuse of needing the loo when in actual fact, I just needed time to calm down. His words confused me. Why would he want to change my opinion of him? He shouldn't care what I thought of him at all. His words to Fred all those years ago had made it abundantly clear what he thought of me and the indifference and almost… abhorrence I'd heard in his tone proved to me that that wasn't going to change. Nobody speaks like that about someone and then turns around and starts caring about them, even if it is years later. So wanting me to like him now didn't make any sense. Knowing that the only way I was going to get any answers was to ask him outright and no way was that going to happen, I washed my hands and headed back to him, resigned to spending the afternoon in the company of a very confusing man. I didn't make it back to the table though as half way there, I was almost bowled over by a very fast moving human body. I stumbled backwards and would have fallen if said body hadn't reached out and grabbed me in time. Muttering to myself, I looked up, ready to give the person a piece of my mind, but who I saw caused me to freeze in surprise. Light grey eyes stared back at me and as the sun glinted off his platinum blond hair, Draco Malfoy smirked at me.

"Well well. If it isn't Miss Rosalyn Parker. Back from the your adventures I see" he said and I frowned at him, pulling out of his grasp.

"What the hell do you want Malfoy?" George said, suddenly at my side and scowling fiercely.

"Hey nothing. I wasn't doing anything, just moving a little fast that's all. Sorry about that Parker. Didn't see you. Course it's not hard to miss you, you being such a tiny thing and all" he said, smirking again before giving me a very visible once over. I frowned and was opening my mouth to berate him when George's reaction surprised the hell out of me. A low - well the only way I can describe it is a growl – came out of his throat and he was suddenly in Draco's face.

"You don't look at her that way understand me mate? She is not for your eyes" he snarled. Draco's eyes widened and his smirk got wider.

"Come now Weasley, it's a little late to be saying that don't you think? I have seen her before after all. _All _of her."

I gasped in outrage. How dare he! He had no right to bring that up! That was years ago and had no impact on today! Stupid gloating little ferret! If he thought he could – I was interrupted mid mind rant as George pulled his arm back and slammed his fist straight into Draco's nose. My mouth fell open as blood spurted and Draco stumbled back and fell on his ass. As I stood there frozen in surprise, George stepped over and grabbed him by the collar.

"Run away Malfoy. Run away very fast because if I ever hear you bring up that subject again, I'll do more then punch you next time" he said, he voice low and threating. Draco nodded and with a whimper, got to his feet and scurried away, blood trailing behind him. George nodded in satisfaction before turning to me, who still hadn't moved a muscle.

"So how about we head to this rehearsal now eh?" he said as if he hadn't just punched someone in broad daylight.


	13. Chapter 13

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie.

Chapter Thirteen.

"_Run away Malfoy. Run away very fast because if I ever hear you bring up that subject again, I'll do more then punch you next time" he said, he voice low and threating. Draco nodded and with a whimper, got to his feet and scurried away, blood trailing behind him. George nodded in satisfaction before turning to me, who still hadn't moved a muscle._

"_So how about we head to this rehearsal now eh?" he said as if he hadn't just punched someone in broad daylight._

I stared at him, completely stunned. Had that really just happened? Had he really just totally overreacted and responded to the situation with violence? _Why?_ George was still standing there, looking at me in question.

"Well? Shall we go then?" he asked. I opened my mouth to speak and then closed it again and frowned. George laughed.

"What's this? The amazing Rosie who seems to need to be on top of everything, speechless? Come on then, you can do that just as well on the way as you can here. We don't want to be late." As I stood there still shocked to silence, he grabbed my hand and began pulling me down the road.

"It's lucky the rehearsal's on Diagon Alley, we can just walk there. I trust you know what you're going to wear. Because as cute as you look in that outfit, I think it may be a little too formal for the rehearsal. We're really not that swank. You'll have to transfigure it. Course, I'll have to do the same as well but-"

I finally got my wits about me and yanked George to a stop. He turned to me and raised his eyebrow.

"Got you're words back now have you?" Well come on, out with it, we haven't got much time" he said cheekily, grinning. I scowled at him.

"Ok what the bloody hell was that about?" I demanded, agitated.

"What was what about?" George said innocently, still grinning.

"What the hell do you mean, what was what about!? You just punched him! Out of the blue, over nothing! You completely overreacted!" George frowned and crossed his arms.

"No I didn't. He deserved it. He shouldn't have been talking about you that way. It was disrespectful. I would've thought you'd be grateful."

"Grateful? _Grateful?_ You just reacted to a situation with violence when talking could have sorted it out!"

"Do you really think that a conversation would have stopped him from making such degrading remarks? No, the only way to get through to people like him is physically. I'm not going to apologise for standing up for you" he said stubbornly.

"I didn't need you to stand up for me! I could have sorted it out myself, but _nooo_, you had to wade in like a caveman fighting over the final piece of meat!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I had gone too far. The male ego is incredibly fragile and I had just trampled all over his. George's eyes widened in shock before his face went completely blank.

"Message received" he said quietly, his voice void of emotion. "We better go if we want to get there in time." He turned around and started walking again. As I followed him, unwanted guilt trickled through my system. I shook my head and frowned. What I had said was true. I didn't need him to stand up for me, especially against such a low lifeform like Draco Malfoy! I could quite happily take care of myself. And I most definitely did not condone violence when other actions could be used to resolve the situation. He should know that. I sighed. What did I expect? George wouldn't know anything about me. Despite what he had said earlier that afternoon, I knew for a fact that he wouldn't want to. My spirits low, I trailed along behind him and we walked the rest of the way to the rehearsal, neither of us saying a single word.

Once we reached the venue, George walked off to go meet Katie without even acknowledging me. I cringed. Man I really had messed with his ego hadn't I? I huffed. Well he would just have to get over it. I stepped further into the room, looking around for Hermione. The place was packed with the wedding party and family, George I and being one of the last people there. Not seeing her, I moved into a quiet corner, pulled out my wand and quickly transfigured my pants and shirt that I worn to work into the outfit I had picked for the rehearsal. It was overly extravagant, just a floaty black skirt that fell to just above my knees and a pretty turquoise top that Hermione said made my eyes pop, but it was a lot better than what I had been wearing. Once my simple black shoes had transformed into cute low-healed black pumps, I stepped into the crowd again and spotted Fred and Hermione walk in, both dressed for the occasion. I caught Hermione's eye and as she walked over to me, I grinned at her knowingly, an expression that quickly fell off my face when I saw the look in her eyes. Once she reached me, I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, concerned. She definitely didn't look like a woman who had spent the afternoon in the arms of the man she loved. She looked… devastated.

"Nothing's wrong. Why would you ask that?" she said, not looking me in the eye.

"Because I still happened to be downstairs when Fred followed you up this afternoon. I heard you're argument and its conclusion and I went up to see if you guys were alright. What I walked in on should not make you look the way you do now." Hermione's head came up.

"You saw us?" she groaned.

"Only the beginning. At least I'm pretty sure it was only the beginning, wasn't it?" Hermione nodded sadly.

"So why do you look like someone kicked your puppy and then threw it in the lake for good measure?" Hermione shook her head.

"I can't talk about it here" she said.

"Well at home tonight then?" I asked. She nodded silently and I rubbed her shoulder. As we went over and took our seats, I wondered exactly what had caused what I'd thought would be their happy ending to turn out to be an unhappy one instead.

The rehearsal was a lot of fun. Or it would have been if Hermione and I had been able to enjoy it. Both Ron and Luna looked incredibly happy. He didn't leave her side all night and didn't once stop smiling. Luna was the same, gazing up at Ron with adoration in her eyes. It was lovely to see. We sat there and watched as the wedding party went through all the steps of the wedding, everything timed out to perfection. This was to be expected though, since Mrs Weasley had a hand in a lot of the planning. As Ron and Luna giggled their way through what they were going to say for real in two days' time, my eyes drifted over to George, who stood next to Fred and Harry at Ron's side. He was wearing a simple blue shirt and black pants, the same thing as Fred was wearing, but while on Fred it looked nice, on George it looked incredibly sexy. His windblown hair was falling in his eyes, in a way that made me want to get up and brush it back. To feel the silk of it of course, but also to get him to look at me. He hadn't looked anywhere in my direction all night. As the evening progressed and we moved onto the rehearsal dinner, I couldn't help but notice that Fred determinately avoided Hermione's gaze as well. He seemed to go out of his way to not come within ten feet of her, even at one point visibly turning around and heading back in the other direction. I frowned when I saw this and Hermione gave a soft muffled sob. Ok I was so going to find out exactly what the hell was going on as soon as we got home. Finally the night was over and Hermione and I made our way over to Winnie to say goodbye, who along with Victoire, Teddy and James, was running around and shrieking at the top of her lungs. She gave us a quick kiss and a distracted hug before racing back over to her friends. I grinned. I so do not envy Bill and Fleur tonight. As we were leaving, I happened to glance around and notice George and Katie standing off to the side, whispering at each other furiously. To me it seemed like Katie hadn't been having a good time at all tonight. She had greeted Hermione pleasantly enough but for some reason, she just seemed to ignore me. Earlier when she had met George, she had folded her arms and glared at him before turning around and walking off to her seat, George trailing behind her with a frown on his face. Now as I watched, George reached for her beseechingly, but she jerked away from him and stormed off. Huh. Trouble in paradise it seemed. I tried my best not to be happy about that and failed miserably. Hermione and I were just leaving the building, both of us very much ready to go home, when Ginny and Luna stepped in front of us.

"So Rosie, what's this we hear about George punching Malfoy this afternoon, defending your honour?" Ginny asked while Luna smiled softly. I groaned and Hermione swung towards me.

"George punched Malfoy?" she asked in amazement. Ginny nodded eagerly.

"Yes, in front of a lot of people. Apparently Draco made a derogatory comment about Rosie and George got very angry" Luna said airily.

"It was nothing guys. He just overreacted that's all. He shouldn't have done it" I said patiently.

"Well it seems Katie agrees with you. She is _not _happy with him at the moment" Ginny said with a smirk. I frowned in confusion.

"Why do you seem happy about that?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"I just don't like her that's all. She belittles him all the time. She's the reason the twins moved out of the flat you know. Said she wouldn't go out with him unless he grew up and moved on with his life. She even had him considering giving up the shop but thankfully he came to his senses about that. I think he could do so much better, don't you?" she said, staring at me. I frowned. I had disliked Katie before, just for the fact that she was dating George, but now I actually had a real reason not to like her. George giving up the shop? I couldn't imagine it.

"She shouldn't be with him if she can't accept the fact that he's a good enough person that he would defend a total stranger if he had to" I said, silently acknowledging to myself that I was defending him for the very actions I had berated him for this afternoon. The three girls' reactions to my words confused me. Hermione smiled while Luna pursed her lips in puzzlement and Ginny looked at me in disbelief.

"I don't think the fact that he defended just anyone is the reason why she's angry at him" Ginny said mysteriously. I frowned at her. What did she mean by that? Why else would she be angry at him? Just then Harry and Ron came over, Ron carrying a drowsy Albus while Harry dragged a protesting James behind him.

"Ready to go then?" he asked Ginny as she reached for Albus. She nodded and the four of them said goodnight to Hermione and I, Ron with arm tightly wrapped around Luna. I smiled at the sight. I was really glad that they'd found each other.

As soon as we got in the door, Hermione turned to me.

"Did George really punch Malfoy?" she asked. I nodded.

"Wow. What did Malfoy say that caused him to react like that? Especially with you in the vicinity? He should have known that you wouldn't appreciate it" she said. I grinned to myself. Finally someone who saw my side of things.

"Umm, Draco sort of brought up us sleeping together. I have no idea why George reacted the way he did though. I don't even know how he knew about it! I thought only Draco and you and I did!" At my words Hermione looked slightly guilty.

"Ah… I think I may have accidently told him" she mumbled.

"What!"

"I'm sorry! It's just that the way Malfoy treated you made me really angry and I really needed to offload to someone. So I sort of told Fred. During one of my rants, George walked in and I wasn't sure until now how much he'd overheard." I groaned.

"So Fred knows as well? Great, that's just great" I said.

"They didn't tell anyone Rosie, I promise. It's still pretty secret. Though I think you should have told everyone. The way he treated you was disgusting! Deliberately seducing you and then once he had gotten what he wanted, throwing you away like a piece of trash!" I sighed. Yes the way Draco had treated me had been horrible but it wasn't entirely all his fault.

"I didn't have to go to bed with him though did I? I knew what he was like and I could have said no. I think he would have accepted that. But I didn't want to. Sleeping with him was completely my choice" I said. Hermione sighed.

"I never did understand why you said yes in the first place. I didn't think you were ready for that then. You were still so young" she said.

"I had my reasons at the time which I'd rather not talk about at the moment. I do want to know what went on between you and Fred though" I said, grinning at Hermione in acknowledgement of her attempt to dissuade the subject. She grimaced.

"I really don't know what happened. I thought went so well."

"So you enjoyed it then?" I asked curiously. She nodded.

"Oh yes, I did. I didn't have a clue that it was going to happen though. We were arguing and he was really frustrating me. He just wouldn't listen! I got so angry I ended up throwing a book at him. Wish I hadn't done that now. Books shouldn't be treated that way. Anyway, he ducked out of the way and then just stared at me. Next thing I know he was suddenly right in front of me, pulling me to him and kissing me. It was… amazing. One thing led to another and well… you get the picture."

"You're sure you enjoyed it? Didn't have any flashbacks?" I asked.

"No, not a one. I didn't think about that at all. It was just so… hot. Fast and rough and so very very hot. He was gripping me so hard and his eyes… he was so dominant. I thought at one point I was going to lose my voice. None of our times at his aunts were like that. I didn't even _know _it could be like that."

I blew out a breath and fought the urge to fan my face. Wow. I had no idea it could be like that either, which wasn't surprising considering I hadn't been with anyone since Draco and _that _had been completely forgettable. I'd had a few dates over the years but nothing serious and I wasn't the type of person to sleep with someone unless it was serious, Draco unfortunately being the exception. I cleared my throat.

"But then afterwards he went really cold. I was so incredibly relaxed and happy and he just rolled over, got out of bed and said we better go if we were going to make the rehearsal on time. I don't know what I did wrong. I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't even look at me. He even jerked away from me when I touched him. I don't think he loves me anymore" she brokenly, tears falling down her cheeks. I went over to her and put my arms around her, leading her to the couch.

"Oh sweetie, I don't think you did anything wrong and I'm sure he still loves you" I said soothingly.

"But I must have! Why else would he treat me that way?" she cried. I rubbed her back as she choked on her tears.

"Did you ever think that maybe he might have thought that he scared you? That his actions during your time together might have bought back things he didn't want you to remember?" Hermione stared at me and understanding dawned.

"But I didn't think of that! At all! I didn't have chance to! He was on me and then it just went so fast and it was so insanely intense! How could he think that I would compare the two? I mean come on, it was completely obvious that I was enjoying myself! I'm not that good an actor so I really couldn't fake something like that even once, let alone three times!" My eyes bugged and I gasped.

"_Three _times?" I rasped. She nodded.

"In the space of an hour" she whispered, blushing.

Holy shit.

Shaking my head to clear out the hard core envy I was feeling, I laughed weakly.

"And you say he's never been like that before?" She shook her head.

"Every other time, not that there was many of them, was incredibly sweet and loving and very satisfying but nothing like that" she said. I pursed my lips in thought.

"Well if he's never acted like that before I would say he did think that he'd bought back some unpleasant memories for you" I said. Hermione looked exasperated.

"Well why the hell didn't he talk to me then! If he'd just gotten off his high horse and told me what he was feeling we could have sorted this out immediately!" she cried. I looked at her in amusement.

"Hermione, he's a man. When did they ever take the easy road?" I said. She laughed.

"I suppose you're right. I'm going to go over there first thing in the morning and sort this out."

"Why wait till the morning? Why not go over there now?" She blinked at me.

"Well you don't have Winnie tonight so you've got no reason to stay in. And this way you won't lie awake all night stewing about it" I said. Slowly a grin stretched across Hermione's face and she laughed once more.

"Alright then, I will. I'll even floo over there so that he has no choice but to see me. George said he'd gotten the fireplace connected up didn't he?" I nodded, cringing slightly at the sound of George's name and because Hermione knew me so well, she picked up on it.

"What is it?" she asked as she grabbed some floo powder. "You're not too upset over what George did are you? True he probably couldn't have done it a different way but Malfoy probably deserved it."

"No it's not that, at least not entirely that. I, ah, may have gone off at George about it. Now he's not talking to me. I think I crushed his ego a bit" I said. Hermione peered at me from out of the fireplace and shook her head.

"Man you really are oblivious, aren't you?" she said. I frowned and opened my mouth to ask her what the hell she was on about when she threw the powder down, called out 'Weasley twin residence!' and with a burst of green flame, was gone.


	14. Chapter 14

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Fourteen.

"_What is it?" she asked as she grabbed some floo powder. "You're not too upset over what George did are you? True he probably couldn't have done it a different way but Malfoy probably deserved it."_

"_No it's not that, at least not entirely that. I, ah, may have gone off at George about it. Now he's not talking to me. I think I crushed his ego a bit" I said. Hermione peered at me from out of the fireplace and shook her head._

"_Man you really are oblivious, aren't you?" she said. I frowned and opened my mouth to ask her what the hell she was on about when she threw the powder down, called out 'Weasley twin residence!' and with a burst of green flame, was gone. _

I stayed up as late as I could, waiting for Hermione to come home so I could find out how it went, but by 1am my body betrayed me and I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up in the same position at 10am the next morning. I smirked when I saw that there was absolutely no sign of Hermione. Fingers crossed that that was a good thing. Fred was the love of Hermione's life and for everything to fall apart over an incorrect assumption would have been a tragedy. I dragged myself off the couch and into the shower and was just sitting down to a much needed coffee, when the floo activated. I looked up eagerly, hoping it was Hermione, but instead Fleur and Winnie stepped out. I smiled as Winnie threw herself towards me and gave me a hug.

"Aunt Rosie! I had so much fun! We played heaps of games and Aunt Fleur let us stay up real late and Uncle Bill took me flying! On a _real_ broom, not one like Teddy has. It was amazing! Where's mommy?"

"She's out at the moment Tabby Cat, but hopefully she won't be too much longer. Why don't you go put your stuff in your room while I talk to Aunt Fleur ok?"

"Ok!" Winnie zoomed off while Fleur and I watched her in amusement.

"She ees very energetic, that child. A lovely, very happy little girl, but somewhat exhausting" Fleur laughed, her French accent greatly reduced after nearly a decade in England.

"Oh yes, very much so" I agreed with a smile. "So she went flying then?"

"Bill didn't take her too far up. Just a few feet off the ground. She loved it" she reassured me. "So where is 'Ermione?" I pursed my lips, considering what to tell her. I wasn't sure if Hermione wanted the others to know what was going on at the moment. I was saved from making that decision when the floo activated again and Hermione stepped out, a soft dreamy smile on her face. I silently cheered. I guess things were looking up after all.

"Mommy! I went flying! It was so cool!" Winnie cried as she bolted towards her mother. Hermione laughed happily as she scooped her daughter up into her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Did you really? Well isn't that exciting! You didn't go too high up did you?"

"No I wanted to go higher but Uncle Bill said no. He said maybe next time if you said yes?" she asked and blinked her eyes in innocence. I gave a muffled laugh and Fleur grinned.

"We'll see" Hermione said, causing Winnie to pout as she knew, just like all children knew, that 'we'll see' usually meant 'no'.

"I better go, I'll see you at the wedding" Fleur said with a smile. We wished her goodbye and in a flash she was gone.

"I'm going to go ring grandma and granddad and tell them all about it!" Winnie said, pulling out of Hermione's arms and dashing off again. I turned to Hermione as she left the room and smirked at her.

"So you took longer than I thought you would" I said teasingly. She blushed and grinned in embarrassment.

"Yeah well, it took longer than _I _thought it would. You were right. He _had_ thought that his treatment of me had brought back bad memories. He was horrified and disgusted with himself and thought I'd want nothing to do with him. The way he acted afterwards was his way of making it easier for me. Silly git. Anyway, it took a while and a lot of talking but I eventually got through to him. I did have to do a sort of blow by blow you could say, to get him to understand but he did eventually" she said grinning.

"A blow by blow? Well that explains you staying the night then" I said with a smirk. She laughed and slapped me on the shoulder.

"It wasn't like that! Yes I did stay the night but we just talked. Well nearly. We talked about everything. We even got into my disappearance. I knew at the time my leaving would hurt him I didn't realise exactly how much. Did you know that if I had stayed, he would have completely supported me and even helped me raise Winnie if I had wanted him to? He was actually disappointed that he didn't get to be there and watch her grow from babyhood!" I gave her a soft smile.

"Sorry Mione, but I suspected that all along. You were the only one that had any doubts" I told her gently. She grimaced.

"Yeah well I wasn't really in a good frame of mind at the time" she said and I nodded in agreement.

"So what's going to happen now? Are you together?" I asked her. Her answering smile lit the whole room.

"Yeah we are. We're going to take it slow as we still have a lot to consider and talk about, Winnie being the main thing, but we are finally together" she said happily. I grinned widely, throwing my arms around her and swaying from side to side.

"Well it's about time! I'm so happy for you!" I said laughing. She chuckled and hugged me back.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. Remember, we're only beginning. He is going to take Winnie and I to the wedding though. That's if you don't mind going solo?"

"Of course not! As if I'd stand in your way! I'll be fine" I assured her and she hugged me again in thanks.

"Well then we'll just have to get you someone as well won't we" Hermione said and I groaned.

"No Mione. Please don't set me up. I'm quite happy the way I am at the moment" I said firmly. Hermione laughed.

"Are you sure about that? What about George?" I cringed slightly and quickly tried to pull off the innocent act.

"What about him?"

"You look at him now the same way you did years ago, if not more intensely, so I know you still have a major thing for him" she said. I sighed.

"He has a girlfriend Hermione" I reminded her.

"Yes but for how much longer? A man like him is very much influenced by his family and none of them think she's good enough for him. I don't think it can last through that." I stared at her.

"Maybe it won't but that still doesn't mean he's interested in me" I said. Hermione scoffed.

"Open your eyes Rosie! Everything, _everything _he's done recently says the exact opposite. He punched Draco Malfoy for you for Merlin's sake!"

"He only did that because he doesn't like anyone talking about a female that way! George doesn't like me Mione. Please just let this go." Hermione huffed in frustration.

"Why do you insist on continuing to believe that? Just because you overheard something years ago that made you think-"

"I don't just think! I_ know_! As much as I might wish it to, it's never going to happen! Just drop it!" Hermione blinked and her gaze softened.

"Wow, what he said all those years ago really did hurt you, didn't it?" she asked softly. I sighed and nodded.

"Yes it did. I don't think I've ever been hurt more. Or more convinced that he meant it."

"Have you ever asked him about it?" I shook my head.

"No and I'm not going to. It'll just lead to more revelations and I don't think I can handle opening myself up that way and being rejected. He'll be nice about it as well which will make it worse and then it'll be terribly awkward. Not just for us but for everyone else as well. No I'm not going there. I'll get over him eventually. I'm determined to get over him. So can we please just change the subject?" Hermione stared at me before sighing and nodding slowly.

"Ok then, I won't bring it up again" she said quietly and I sighed in relief.

We spent the rest of the weekend not really doing much. Hermione went out to dinner with Fred on Saturday night so Winnie and I decided to watch movies and eat pizza and generally just laze around. He showed up again on Sunday morning and took Hermione and Winnie to the zoo. I smiled when I caught Hermione watching him before they left. The amount of love in her eyes and in Fred's as well… she may think they were going to take things slow but I really didn't see that happening. I predict that there would be another wedding in the family within a year. When they got back, Winnie raving about all the animals that they had seen and how she was going to be a zookeeper when she grew up, Fred left to go meet up with his brothers and Harry. We were just starting to get ready for the wedding as well when there was a tap on the living room window. Winnie squealed when she saw an owl sitting at the window with a letter in its beak, waiting patiently to be let in. She stroked its feathers in wonder as Hermione unfolded the parchment and read it, grinning once she had finished.

"It's from Luna. She says that since we can't be in the wedding party, she at least wants us to go over and get ready with them" she said. "Want to go?" I grinned in return.

"Of course I do. Write back and tell her we'll be right over" I said and Hermione quickly composed our reply and sent it back. Winnie waved as the owl flew away.

"Go get your dress love, we're going to go see the bride" Hermione said and then laughed as Winnie cheered and bolted into her room, zooming back out a minute later with her dress and shoes over her shoulder. Once Hermione and I had gotten our own outfits we stepped into the fireplace and flooed over to where all the action was.

With the wedding being held at the Burrow, Ron and his entourage were getting ready there while Luna and her girls were at her father's place just down the road. Entering the house was like stepping into a madhouse. A variety of women were running around the place everywhere, all in various stages of dress. We made our way through the house, not sure where to go, when Mrs Weasley stepped out of a room.

"Oh girls, there you are. Glad you could make it. They're all in here" she said, pointing into the room behind her. "I'm going to head back over home to Ron. Poor boy is scared stiff. I'll see you later." We told her goodbye as Winnie sprinted into the room and headed straight over to Victoire who was standing beside her mother, both dressed to the nines. As the two girls chattered excitedly to each other, Hermione and I walked over to Luna who sat in front of a vanity mirror getting her hair done.

"Thanks for inviting us Luna" Hermione said. She gave us a misty smile.

"I am very glad you decided to come. We are complete now" she said dreamily. I shook my head in amusement. Luna never changed. Not that I would really want her to.

"Well come on then, let's see your dresses" Ginny demanded from her perch on the window seat. She was already dressed in her matron of honour dress, a beautiful deep smokey colour that had wide straps, a tight fitting bodice and flared out to fall just below her knees. Her wonderful red hair was half up in an intricate knot, while the other half fell like a waterfall down her back. Fleur and the other bridesmaid, a friend of Luna's from her Hogwarts days that Hermione and I had never been very close to, were wearing the same style dress but in a lighter shade of silver. Victoire's dress was a rusty red that complimented her blond hair and hinted at the beautiful woman she would become. They all looked wonderful. Winnie, Hermione and I showed them our dresses and once Ginny, Luna, Victoire and Fleur had approved of them, we put them on. Winnie was wearing red as well, a deep wine red which brought out the red undertones in her russet brown hair. She was thrilled to be wearing the same colour as Victoire. Hermione's dress was a simple wrap around dress in a deep green that fell to just above her knees. She was planning on using a few hair smoothing charms to tame her hair and when she was done I knew she would look exceptional. Fred's eyes were going to pop out of his head. My dress I was a little worried about. It was midnight blue which I was happy with, but it was also strapless, short and tight. Plus it also gave me cleavage, which I'm usually not able to manage, being as petite as I am. Hermione had assured me that it wasn't all that bad so it was suitable for a wedding and that I looked great in it. I was still iffy though. I definitely wasn't used to showing so much skin. Combined with the strappy high heels Hermione had convinced me to get as well – a lot higher then I usually wear – I looked nothing like my normal self. Which I suppose was a good thing, especially if I was looking to start a new chapter in my life. So I put the outfit on and resisted the urge to tug the hem down and the neckline up. By this time, Luna was ready to get into her dress as well. It was a dove white, completely ethereal, single piece of fabric that floated around her like a dream. If there ever was a dress that summed Luna up to a tee, it was this one. She was leaving her hair down which fell down to her knees and twined through it was a whole heap of tiny little flowers and gems which glinted gently in the light. She had also decided not to wear any shoes as according to her, this allowed her to better commune with the fairies that lived in the garden and would hopefully get them to bless the wedding. Everyone just nodded when she said this, more then used to her out of this world musings. Once she was all put together we all preceeded to sigh over her. She looked absolutely stunning and very much ready to get married. Our exclamations over her were interrupted by a knock.

"Hi ladies, is it safe to come in?" Fred called through the door. Fleur went over and opened it, letting him in. Winnie ran over to him, laughing and twirling to show off her dress. He grinned at her and told her she looked very pretty but I noticed that once his eyes locked onto Hermione, they widened and darkened and he didn't look away. She blushed under his intense appreciative gaze, a fact that didn't escape Ginny.

"What are you doing here Fred? Shouldn't you be with Ron?" she asked with narrowed eyes. Fred dragged his eyes away from Hermione, grinned and put his arm around her.

"I'm here to pick up my date. Well my two dates" he said, scooping up Winnie who giggled and clutched him tightly. Hermione grinned at him. Ginny and Luna exchanged a glance.

"So are you two…?" Ginny asked hopefully. Fred grinned widely while Hermione ducked her head shyly.

"Yes we are officially together" he said, tugging Hermione closer to him.

"YES! It's about damn time!" Ginny said laughing as she ran over and pulled Hermione and then Fred into a hug. Luna sighed happily and clapped her hands while Fleur smiled and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. Winnie watched all this in slight confusion before Victoire came over and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened and she turned to Fred.

"Are you and mommy girlfriend and boyfriend now?" she asked him and Hermione and Fred exchanged a glance. Fred took a deep breath and got down on her level.

"Yes we are sweetie if that's ok with you" he said quietly. Everyone held their breaths as Winnie considered him.

"Do you love her lots?" she asked. Fred smiled.

"Lots and lots" he said. Winnie broke into a grin and threw her arms around his neck.

"Yay! I'm so happy!" she exclaimed and Fred laughed and hugged her in relief.

"So am I little one. So am I."

The wedding was beautiful. Luna glided down the aisle and Ron couldn't take his eyes off her. We sat there and watched as they happily pledged their love to each other. Once the official had pronounced them Mr and Mrs Weasley, everyone stood up and cheered as Ron dipped his new wife and proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of her. Luna was laughing and blushing furiously when he brought her back up again. We then all made our way over to the large tent that was set up on the Quidditch pitch, the bride and groom and the wedding party leading the way. Hermione and I were walking beside Mr and Mrs Weasley a little way behind them, the later still sniffing and wiping her eyes. Winnie ran ahead with Victoire, Teddy and James, the sunlight glinting off her hair, causing it to look almost as red as a Weasley head. Mrs Weasley pursed her lips as she saw this.

"I'm sorry to bring this up now dear, but are you sure Winnie isn't Fred's? Her hair…" Hermione smiled softly in regret.

"Unfortunately I'm positive she isn't. Fred and I… well let's just say we prevented that from happening. Her hair is because Bellatrix deliberately picked someone with red hair, hoping it would traumatise me more. Everyone knew who I was dating at the time, even the bad guys. She was just being extra malicious" she said gently. Mrs Weasley sighed in disappointment.

"Oh well I was hoping… not that it makes her any less part of the family already of course" she said. Hermione stared at her and then suddenly pulled her to a stop and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you Mrs Weasley. For everything" she murmured to her. Mrs Weasley patted her on the back while Mr Weasley smiled happily at the two.

"You know you two are really going to have to call me Molly. Mr and Mrs Weasley seems a little formal for family" she said and Mr Weasley, or should I say Arthur, nodded in agreement.

All through the reception Fred didn't leave Hermione's side. He constantly held her hand or had his arm around her, making it quite clear to everyone that they were together. They danced to nearly every song, only missing the ones where Fred danced with Winnie. I kept my attention focused on them, trying my best not to let it wander to George and Katie. When I had first seen him at the wedding, standing beside Fred and Harry, I gulped and quickly looked away. He looked so… _hot_. His formal tuxedo like dress robes looked amazing, showing off his sculpted chest and arms. I only looked at him one more time during the ceremony, just as he was looking at me. The look in his eyes set my heart racing and greatly confused me. I watched as he gave me a very slow once over, not at all offending like Draco's had been, and his eyes seemed to blaze when they met mine before he turned back to the Ron, Luna and the official. I shook my head and took a deep breath. The contradiction between what I was positive I knew and the vibes he was sending out now would surely be the death of me. Now at the reception though George and Katie were on the dance floor, Katie once again with a miffed look on her face. I turned away from them to watch Winnie laugh with Fred when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and for the second time in a few days, looked up into Draco Malfoy's eyes. He held out his hand to me.

"Want to dance?" he asked me. I frowned. What was he doing here? Draco smirked and grabbed my hand, pulling me onto the dance floor and into his arms. I have to admit, he was a pretty good dancer.

"So how did you manage to sneak in?" I asked him curiously. He raised his eyebrow at me.

"I was invited" he said mildly. I looked at him in surprise. He grinned.

"Since The Quibbler is a little bit more respectful these days, my company does quite a lot of business with them. Luna invited me because of that" he said.

"And Ron didn't mind?" Draco grinned again.

"I think she put her foot down on the subject. So here I am" he said. He suddenly looked down for a second and then raised his eyes to mine.

"I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have bought up the past like that. I really regret what I did to you during our fifth year, though I only regret my actions afterwards. The actual act was quite enjoyable" he said with a smirk. I snorted.

"Yeah, for you maybe" I muttered and Draco cringed. A sly look suddenly came into his eyes and he leaned down to me, his lips brushing my ear.

"I've had a lot more practise since then you know, if you ever want to give it another go. You look amazing tonight. I'm sure it'll be a lot more… satisfying this time" he murmured in a low voice. I shivered and took a small step away from him.

"Ok that's really not going to happen Draco" I said firmly. "We are in the past and that's where we're going to stay." Draco laughed and pouted in disappointment and then looked at me curiously.

"You know, you're the only one who calls me by my first name. Everyone else calls me Malfoy" he said. I grimaced.

"Well I sort of can't call you that. Not when we've been, ah, intimate" I muttered. He continued to grin at me and then it suddenly widened considerably as he seemed to focus on something over my head.

"Well how about we share a little last something for old time's sake hmm?" he said and before I could say a single thing, he leaned down and kissed me. See the thing is Draco had always been a _very_ good kisser. It was the part I had enjoyed the most during our little tryst years ago. So after a moment of shocked stillness, I found myself kissing him back. His tongue brushed my bottom lip, encouraging me to open my mouth, which I must say I shamelessly did. I lost myself in the kiss for a few minutes before I suddenly came to my senses, thought _hold on minute, what the hell am I doing?_ and quickly pulled out of his arms. I wiped my hand over my mouth and glared into his smirking eyes.

"Why the bloody hell did you do that for?" I hissed at him. He grinned at me.

"That ought to do it" he said, his gaze once again focused behind me. I turned around and froze at what I saw. George was standing stiffly not five feet away, staring at us, his expression blank. Katie stood at his side, tugging his arm and when she couldn't get a response, she spun around and stalked off angrily. George met my eyes for a second before he turned around and silently followed her. I cringed. Damn it. I spun back to Draco, who was still standing there grinning.

"Now he might maybe get off his ass and do something, if he thinks he has a bit of competition. Your welcome" he said before turning and cheerfully walking away.


	15. Chapter 15

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot, Rose and Winnie

Chapter Fifteen.

"_That ought to do it" he said, his gaze once again focused behind me. I turned around and froze at what I saw. George was standing stiffly not five feet away, staring at us, his expression blank. Katie stood at his side, tugging his arm and when she couldn't get a response, she spun around and stalked off angrily. George met my eyes for a second before he turned around and silently followed her. I cringed. Damn it. I spun back to Draco, who was still standing there grinning._

"_Now he might maybe get off his ass and do something, if he thinks he has a bit of competition. Your welcome" he said before turning and cheerfully walking away._

"Umm… Rosie?" a tentative voice said from behind me. I spun round once again on the now silent dance floor. Hermione stood behind me with a rather confused expression on her face. She wasn't the only one looking at me. It seems I had made a scene. I sighed. Lovely. I was so going to throttle Draco Malfoy. I spun back around and headed towards our table, throwing myself into my chair and putting my head in my hands. Why had I done that? I didn't want George to think I was taken. Not that it would matter anyway, he was with Katie and he wasn't interested in me. Ok so maybe I'll admit that he might be attracted to me. No guy had ever looked at me the way George had at the ceremony, but just because he might like what he sees, doesn't mean he likes me as a person. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head, not looking up when a shadowy figure moved over to occupy the seat beside me.

"So… why did you kiss Malfoy in the middle of the dance floor, in front of everyone?" Hermione asked me quietly. I sighed and raised my head to meet her eyes.

"Ah… he kissed me?" I tried evasively.

"Yes he did, but you kissed him back Rosie" she said. "And in front of George as well. What were you thinking?" I groaned.

"I don't know!" I cried "I just haven't been kissed in such a long time and Draco's a really good kisser and… oh Merlin, I am such a slag" I said, turning around and banging my head repeatedly on the table. Hermione chuckled and rubbed my shoulder.

"No you're not Rosie. A good kiss is a good kiss. And you're not with anyone so you're free to do what you want. So are you and Draco…?" I gasped and spun back round to her, horrified.

"What? No of course not! He only did it in a messed up attempt to help me!" Hermione frowned.

"Help you?"

"Yeah he thought that if George maybe thought someone else was interested in me, he might 'do something' about it. His reasoning is completely flawed though, as George doesn't care if anyone is interested in me. Well maybe apart from Draco. They really don't seem to like each other. Actually that's probably another reason why Draco did it. Just to mess with a Weasley head" I sighed. "Gods I hate these twisted games he plays." Hermione pursed her lips.

"You may be right. George did punch him after all, humiliating him in front of quite a large crowd. This could be his way of getting back at him. So nothing's going to come of that little kiss then?" I frantically shook my head.

"Not a chance in hell."

"Well let's just put it in the past then, and enjoy the rest of this party eh?" she said. I nodded reluctantly. I just wanted to go home but going by the determined look in Hermione's eyes, that wasn't going to happen.

The rest of the reception passed without incident, except that I seemed to get different versions of _what the hell were you thinking? _from all sides. Ron said exactly that, but with cruder language when he and Luna made their way over to us. Luna eventually got him to shut up by saying that I could kiss anyone I wanted, though she would prefer if my standards were a little higher. Harry just frowned at me while Ginny joked that we all had to rebel at least once in our lifetime. Fred's reaction bothered me the most though. He all out glared at me before whispering in Hermione's ear and leaving the tent. I frowned and looked at Hermione questionably.

"He's going to go find George. He thinks he might need a little support at the moment" she said. I nodded. Katie had looked quite angry. Finally the reception wrapped itself up and we all stood in front of the house and waved the bride and groom goodbye. They were leaving for a two week honeymoon in France. Once Ron had flown off with his bride, the guests slowly began to make their way home. Hermione was dragging a pouting Winnie behind us we made our way into the house to collect our things. I had just entered the dining room where our stuff was, Hermione and Winnie right behind me, when I stopped dead. George and an extremely angry, crying Katie were already in the room. They both looked up when the front door opened. I took in the very tense atmosphere and quickly and unsuccessfully tried to back out of the room, Hermione unintentionally blocking my exit. Sighing and knowing there was no way out of this I tried to edge my way towards our stuff.

"Umm… I'll just…" I mumbled, turning away from them but my attempt to get in and out as quickly as possible was stopped when I was spun back around and Katie raised her hand and slapped me across the face as hard as she could. The force of the slap caused me to stagger backwards and would have put me on the ground if Hermione hadn't grabbed my arm and held me up. Huh. Who knew that a girl that skinny could pack such a wallop? My cheek throbbed painfully, the ache rocketing across my face. I raised my hand to it in shock as Katie glared hatefully at me and, pulling away from George as he tried to drag her away, she got right in my face.

"This is all your fault! We were happy before you showed up! Have you no shame? You stay away from him you whore! He's mine!" she hissed at me, her voice full of malice. I gaped at her.

"What the bloody hell are you going on about?" I demanded, generally confused. How were their relationship problems in anyway my fault? She scoffed at me.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Flaunting yourself in front of everyone, only happy when you have the whole male population drooling over you! And that one beside you is just as bad! Why don't the two of you just go off and get lost again and take her disgusting little abomination with you!"

A large gasp travelled through the room at her words, coming from the group of family who had entered the house in the middle of her rant. I felt Hermione stiffen beside me and she stepped forward.

"_What_ did you just call my daughter?" she asked, her voice deadly quiet. Katie sneered at her, unaware of or maybe just not caring about the audience of Weasleys and Harry we now had listening in.

"An abomination! Because that's what she is! Look at what she came from! Her father was a monster, do you really think she's going to turn out as anything but that as well? It's all in the genes. Conceived in violence by a man who _enjoyed_ the disgusting act that created her. He did enjoy it didn't he Hermione? Hurting you that way? And now look at the two people raising her! She doesn't stand a chance! She's just another death eater in the making! She should never have been born!"

The shocked and horrified silence in the room was only broken when Hermione stepped forward and threw a punch reminiscent of the one she gave Draco in our third year. Katie cried out and stumbled backwards, her hand over her nose. She pulled her hand away and stared at the blood on it in horror.

"George! Look what that bitch did to be!" she whined. George stared at her as if he'd never seen her before.

"I think you better leave Katie" he said quietly. Katie's eyes widened.

"What!? You've got to be kidding me! I'm your girlfriend, you should be supporting me!" she yelled. George shook his head.

"Not anymore Katie. I don't want to be with anyone who spouts such bigotry nonsence and says such horrible things. Please go" he said. Katie gaped at him and then looked around the room, obviously hoping to find some support, but all she was met with was hard and angry expressions.

"Fine! I'll go find someone who appreciates me! I don't need you!" she shrieked and stormed out of the room. I turned to Hermione and threw my arms around her.

"You're bloody amazing you know that?" I said into her neck. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Thanks. She had no right to talk about you that way, let alone say those awful things about Winnie. I had forgotten how much that hurts though" she said, flexing her hand. "What about you? That was a hell of a slap" she said. I opened my mouth to tell her I was fine when I found myself being turned around. George gently lifted my chin, turning my face slightly to inspect my burning cheek.

"You'll be fine with some bruise balm. Mum has some somewhere. I'm really sorry about her. She should not have hit you" he said. I swallowed and stared up into his gorgeous eyes.

"Don't worry about it" I whispered. He stared at me for a second before slowly lifting his hand and running his finger gently over the bruise that was already forming on my cheek. He then sighed and stepped away from me. I swallowed again, my mind swirling with confusion. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that it took a second for Fred's' question to register.

"Hey guys… ah, where's Winnie?"

As soon as the words left Fred's mouth, Hermione gasped and looked frantically around the room. That's when I remembered that Winnie had been with us when we had first walked in on Katie and George. But she was no longer with us now. My gaze swung to Hermione and we gasped in horror. Winnie would have heard everything Katie had said! And with her being as smart as she is, there was no way she could have not understood at least the gist of it. Hermione moaned and put her head in her hands.

"Ok everyone spread out, she can't have gone far" Arthur said determinedly. Hermione and I knew better though. Winnie was a bullet when she wanted to be and with no way of knowing just when she had left the conversation until we found her, she could be anywhere by now. Hermione's breathing began to pick up as she began to panic. Anything could happen to her. She was just a little girl! Seeing this, Fred quickly reached Hermione's side and took her into his arms. I gulped and tried my best not to panic as well, wishing I had someone to lean on as Hermione was now doing with Fred. I didn't dare look at George, afraid of the emotions he'd see in my eyes. We all left the house quickly and broke up to search the area. Hermione wanted me to go with her but I said no, she should stay with Fred as he would help keep her calm. I had no one to do that for me though and since I needed to be alone to deal with my panic I ran across the Quidditch pitch as fast as I could, ignoring the shouts behind me for me to wait for someone to come with me. I wasn't going to wait. I couldn't. Entering the woods, I spend a good 15 minutes frenziedly running from here to there, calling Winnie's name before I made myself stop and take a couple if deep calming breaths. Searching this way wasn't getting me anywhere. Ok Rosie, think! If you were a little girl who had just heard something awful, where would you go? Or maybe, who would you go to? I was suddenly hit with a memory of the reception and the way Winnie spent a good hour hanging off Mr Lovegood's every word. He had even invited her to come over at some point and see how the Quibbler was made. Would she have gone there? It was as good an idea as any. I quickly made my way through the woods, stepping out into the clearing that led to the Lovegood house. I crossed it and to my surprise, saw Victoire hurrying towards me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. She frowned at me.

"Someone had to be with Winnie when she heard the things that mean lady said" she said. "Are you here to take her back now?" I nodded. "Good. I left her with Mr Lovegood to go get her mum but you'll do" she said, sounding a lot older than her almost eight years. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the house.

"I tried telling her that what that lady said was wrong but I don't think she believed me. You'll make her believe though won't you?" she demanded, her eyes boring into mine. I pulled her to a stop and gave her a quick hug.

"I'll try my best love, I promise. Why don't you run back to the others and let them know that she's ok" I suggested and she sagged slightly in relief and nodded. I watched her until she stepped into the trees and then walked the rest of the way to the house.

I was rounding the corner of the house when I heard Mr Lovegood's voice. He seemed to be talking about a lot of random things, including nargles and warkspurts, in a continuously cheerful voice. I stepped into the garden and saw Winnie and Mr Lovegood weeding his garden. Winnie didn't take part in his insane conversation, but I could tell she was listening. At that moment I was incredibly happy that he was a part of our lives. Sure, some people still saw him as a traitor for what he had done to keep his daughter safe during the war. I had even thought badly of him at the time. But that was exactly it. He had only done it to save Luna, a fact that Ron was now extremely grateful for, and he had always felt very guilty about it. He was a very good man who loved his daughter and anyone who kept a little girl company, even though he didn't know her all that well, just because he sensed she was sad and hurt was alright by me. I stepped forward and must have made a noise because both Winnie and Mr Lovegood turned towards me.

"See Winnie my dear, I told you it would be alright. Your aunt is here to get you now" he said. I crouched down and held out my hand to Winnie who was staring at me silently.

"Let's go home now Winnie. Everyone's really worried about you, especially your mum" I said in a soft voice. Winnie continued to stare at me before she turned and looked at Mr Lovegood. He nodded at her in encouragement. She turned back to me. She looked into my eyes and I smiled at her, trying to put all the love I felt for her into them. I must have succeeded because a small smile flitted across her lips and she stepped over and took my hand. I breathed a sigh of relief and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before looking at Mr Lovegood.

"Thank you" I said. He smiled at me.

"Anytime dear. And that goes for you to Winnie my girl. You come back whenever you want. You're always welcome" he said. Winnie smiled at him briefly and nodded, still not saying anything. As I led her across the clearing and into the woods, I began to worry slightly about her silence. It just wasn't like her not to say at least something. Deciding that this conversation couldn't wait until she was safe back with mother, I stopped and sat down on the ground. Winnie stopped as well and looked at me in silence.

"Ok love it seems we need to talk about what Katie said. Do you want to talk about it?" She continued to watch me and keep her silence. I frowned.

"You do know that your mum and I and everyone else back at the house really loves you don't you?" I asked her. This got a small reaction. She frowned and opened her mouth but then closed it again.

"We love you and we would never give you up for anything. We would never wish that you had never been born. Ever" I said firmly. She stared at me and I watched as my words finally seemed to get through to her. Her bottom lip began to tremble and her face crumbled. I drew her onto my lap as the tears overtook her, rocking her and murmuring nonsense to her as she cried. Her tears finally started to dry up until I was just holding her and running my hand over her hair.

"Why did she say those things Aunt Rosie?" Her voice was very small but I managed to hear her just fine.

"She was angry Tabby Cat. She would've said them if she hadn't been."

"But she meant them." I sighed. Sometimes it really was a curse to have a child smart beyond her years.

"Unfortunately yes she did. But no one else believes them. At all."

"Did my daddy hurt my mommy?" I gasped. What the hell do I say to her now? Hermione and I had discussed this and had decided that when Winnie was old enough, we would tell her about it. But she was meant to be older. A lot older! I couldn't leave her hanging though. I quickly made a decision and hoped that Hermione would be alright with it.

"Yes baby girl he did. He wasn't a very nice person. But you resulted from that and you're the biggest blessing that anyone could ever ask for. You know you mum loves you right?" She hesitated for a second and then nodded. "She loves you more than life itself and so do I and that outshines anything he may have done to her. If she had the chance to go back and change it she never would, because that would mean she wouldn't have you and that would be unthinkable." I watched as Winnie slowly accepted this but I could tell that something was still bothering her.

"What is it love?" I asked. She frowned.

"Am I going to turn out like him like Katie said?" I gasped and hugged her fiercely.

"Oh gods Winnie, _no_. You're not going to be anything like him! You're not anything like him now! You're a brilliant ray of sunshine that lights up the darkest room and he could never do that! You take after you mum love. You would never hurt a fly unless it was in defence of someone you loved and I can guarantee that as you get older that's not going to change. I promise Winnie. And I always keep my promises, don't I?" Winnie looked at me and I stared back at her, willing her to believe me. My prayers were answered when slowly, a smile broke across her face.

"No I wont be like him. I'll be like you Aunt Rosie. I'll never hurt anyone" she said, determination ringing through her voice. I laughed and hugged her before getting to my feet.

"Come on then my little warrior; let's get back to your mum. She must be worried sick by now." Winnie nodded happily in agreement and skipped off in front of me, eager to get back to the others. I laughed as I watched her, glad she was back to her old self. She turned around as she walked in front of me and frowned again.

"Does that hurt?" she asked. For a moment I didn't know what she was talking about before I remembered my cheek. Losing Winnie had put it right out of my mind.

"A little. Not much" I said. Winnie frowned again and then stopped and walked towards me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me down to her. She then proceeded to softly kiss my hurt cheek, just like Hermione and I had always done for her pains.

"Better?" she asked. I swallowed and nodded, love for her filling me up. She grinned and skipped on ahead again. We walked through the woods quickly and would have made in back in record time if Winnie hadn't scrambled straight through a small patch of brush. She suddenly tripped forward with a shriek of pain.

"Winnie? What is it? Are you ok?" I called to her and ran forward. She was crying when I got to her and clutching her ankle.

"Something bit me Aunt Rosie! It… hurts! It… hurt..s… he..ap…" her voice trailed off weakly and her words seemed to blur and run together sluggishly. As I reached for her I saw a flash of white and black squirm away speedily and I knew what had happened. She had been bitten by an Adder. I frowned worriedly as I picked her up and she moaned piteously, her head lolling around on her neck. She shouldn't be reacting like this! Yes Adder's were venomous but they only gave their victim a painful bite and a little nausea. My worry increased to extreme panic as Winnie suddenly began convulsing in my arms. Oh gods, she must be one of the rare people who were allergic to the snakes! I had to get her to St Mungos immediately! I twisted on the spot and without even a thought of how my own body would react, I Apperated.


	16. Chapter 16

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Sixteen

"_Something bit me Aunt Rosie! It… hurts! It… hurt..s… he..ap…" her voice trailed off weakly and her words seemed to blur and run together sluggishly. As I reached for her I saw a flash of white and black squirm away speedily and I knew what had happened. She had been bitten by an Adder. I frowned worriedly as I picked her up and she moaned piteously, her head lolling around on her neck. She shouldn't be reacting like this! Yes Adder's were venomous but they only gave their victim a painful bite and a little nausea. My worry increased to extreme panic as Winnie suddenly began convulsing in my arms. Oh gods, she must be one of the rare people who were allergic to the snakes! I had to get her to St Mungos immediately! I twisted on the spot and without even a thought of how my own body would react, I Apperated. _

I arrived with a _crack_ in waiting room of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Winnie's still convulsing body in my arms. I staggered slightly as I landed, the Apperation trying it's best to overcome me, but I took a couple of deep breaths and pushed my way through it. I couldn't collapse now. Winnie needed me. I rushed over to the reception desk, doing my best to hold Winnie steady which fortunately was getting easier as her convulsions were slowly starting to calm down. Her breathing wasn't getting any easier though, and she wasn't waking up.

"Please help me! She was bitten by an Adder and I think she's allergic to them" I pleaded as the mediwitch hurried round the desk.

"Bring her over here" she said and led me into an empty examination room. Just as I was placing Winnie down onto bed she started convulsing again, even more powerfully this time. As the mediwitch quickly called for help and the room filled with healers, I stared at Winnie, horrified, as her little body flopped around violently on the bed.

"Please mam, you can't be in here. Go wait in the waiting area and we'll come update you as soon as possible" the mediwitch from the desk said, trying to lead me out of the room.

"No I can't leave her! She needs me!" I cried, terrified that this would be the last time I'd see her alive.

"I promise that we will do all we can for your daughter-"

"She's my god daughter"

"-Your god daughter then, but you still really can't be in here. Maybe you can go contact her parents?" she said. I stared at the group of healers hovering over the bed.

"Mam? Please, don't you think her parents will want to know?" The mediwitch's words finally got through to me and I nodded, allowing her to lead me out of the room. The sound of the door closing behind me echoed appallingly through my head.

"She will be alright won't she?" I asked as we entered the waiting room.

"I'll get back to you as soon as we know anything" she said and it registered to me dimly that she never really answered my question. As she left the room, I sat down and put my head in my hands. Oh Gods. No, don't panic. There was nothing to worry about. Winnie would be fine. She'll pull through this. She was Hermione's daughter after all, which meant she was incredibly strong. She'll beat this. Thinking of Hermione reminded me that she still didn't know what had happened. I took a deep breath, stood up and drew out my wand. Bringing to mind the happiest memory I could think of was a lot harder to do than usual, but I somehow managed it and called _Expecto Patronum_. My Patronus, a reindeer, erupted from the end of my wand and I quickly sent it away to Hermione to let her know what was going on. My Patronus had always been a source of amusement between the muggle borns and half-bloods in the DA meetings during fifth year. Many of them hadn't even been aware that reindeer actually existed and weren't just a part of the tale of Santa and the North Pole. I liked it though. I had no idea why my Patronus was a reindeer, but I liked being unique. Once it had finally disappeared, I stowed my wand again and unable to sit back down, I began to pace. And to pray. Please, to whoever was out there, whether it be the muggle version of God or the more natural higher powers people in the magical community tended to lean more towards, please let Winnie be ok. We couldn't lose her. She was so loved by everyone and it would destroy Hermione, not to mention me. Please let her pull through this. My pacing was interrupted by several loud _cracks_ and I spun around to see Hermione and the Weasleys rushing towards me. Hermione reached me first and grabbed my shoulders.

"Rosie what happened? Where's Winnie? Is she ok?" Hermione asked frantically.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm so sorry, we were coming through the woods and she was bitten by an Adder. She just barrelled through some brush and I didn't even see it until she was on the ground. I'm so sorry." Hermione frowned.

"An Adder? Those aren't even really all that poisonous. Why did you bring her here? We could have taken care of it" she said, her voice confused.

"Because I think she's may be allergic to them. Her speech slurred and she starting having trouble breathing and then she starting convulsing." Hermione's eyes widened at my words and she gave a small moan of fear. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know as soon as it happened but-"

"No you did the right thing, bringing her here instantly" she said in a shaky voice. "Where is she now?"

"In a room down the hall with a bunch of healers. They wouldn't let me stay with her Hermione. I tried but they made me leave." I voice broke slightly as I said this and Hermione quickly pulled me into her arms.'

"Hey its ok she'll be fine, you'll see" she said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself of that as well. "Have they been in yet to tell you what's going on?" I shook my head.

"I'll go find out" Ginny said and Hermione threw her a grateful look. As she left the room, Hermione led me back to my chair, Fred right beside her, and we sat down. Everyone else found seats as well.

"So she was at the Lovegood's all along then?" Bill asked and I remembered that they didn't know the full story.

"Yeah she was. Didn't Victoire tell you?"

"No she just said that you'd found her and were bringing her home" he said, running his hand over his daughters hair as she sat curled up in her mother's lap.

"You should be proud of her. She stayed with Winnie the whole time" I said and Bill smiled softly.

"Oh we are. Very proud of her" he said. I turned towards Hermione.

"We were coming through the woods but we had to stop half way back though. Winnie wasn't saying a single word. It was scaring me." Hermione cringed.

"How much did she hear?" she whispered. I sighed.

"Everything. She heard everything." I said and Hermione gave a small sob. Fred drew her into his arms.

"That's why I stopped. I had to get her talking. I'm sorry I didn't wait-"

"Rosie why are you apologising? You did the right thing." Hermione said. I looked at my hands.

"I'm not her mother. You are. I don't want to overstep my boundaries." Hermione stared at me in amazement.

"What boundaries? You're almost as much a mother to her as I am! You've been in her life from the very beginning Rosie. We raised her together. You should know that any decision you would make regarding her, I would approve of. Because I'd probably make exactly the same one. Now stop this nonsense and tell me what you talked to her about." As chuckles echoed around the room, I stared at her and then gave a rueful smile. She raised her eyebrow at me

"Katie really had gotten to her. I think that she'd almost convinced her that we didn't love her" I said and George, who in my fear I hadn't noticed was sitting on the other side of me, frowned. "I told her that we did and that we wouldn't ever wish was hadn't been born. She cried after that but it was what she said next that horrified me. She asked if her daddy had hurt you." Hermione gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

"I told her the truth. I didn't go into any detail but I did say yes. I know that you wanted to wait till she was older to do that but I felt that lying to her now would just come back to haunt us later. I hope you're ok with that." Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a minute before opening them again and giving me a slow nod.

"I told her that you wouldn't change what happened to you because then she wouldn't be around. She accepted this and I thought that that was the end of the conversation. But then she asked if she was going to turn out bad like he was." Hermione moaned at this, almost as if she was in pain, and turned and buried her head into Fred's shoulder. He rubbed her arm comfortably.

"Believe me; I couldn't say no quick enough. I told her she took after you, not him. I'm pretty sure I convinced her. We may have to keep an eye on that as she gets older though" I said. "We had started walking again and were almost out of the woods when she was bitten. I should have seen it. I'm sorry." Hermione pulled away from Fred slightly and looked at me.

"How exactly were you supposed to see a snake camouflaged in the brush a foot or two in front of you Rosie? Stop apologising. It wasn't your fault" she said in a firm voice. I looked at my hands again. It was really hard to believe that.

"She's right you know. I wasn't your fault. If anything it was mine." I gasped and turned towards George.

"How is it your fault?" I demanded.

"I brought Katie into our lives. I didn't know that she was thinking like that. If I had known her a little better, then this never would have happened because she would not have been around Winnie in the first place. I wouldn't even have been dating her" he said. I frowned at him.

"I don't think you could have known something like that. She seemed to be hiding it pretty deep. I had no clue she was like that when we were in school"

"Neither did I and that's the problem. I didn't really know anything about her. Wasn't really interested in knowing anything apart from the surface stuff about her. I should have broken up with her when I met her on Thursday like I had planned on doing before you guys showed up and then this never would have happened."

I stared at him, shocked. He had planned to break up with Katie before we had even come back into everyone's lives? My shocked and somewhat elated thoughts were interrupted by Ginny as she came into the room and headed straight over to Hermione and I.

"Is she ok?" Hermione asked desperately. Ginny took a deep breath.

"Rosie was right. It was an Adder bite and Winnie is allergic to it but unfortunately it's a little more complicated than that" she said. I looked at Hermione in fear and then suddenly found my hand being gripped tightly. As it was comforting me, I didn't really register who was holding it. I just squeezed it back.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well it seems that the allergic reaction would have been pretty mild if she had been a muggle, but being mixed with her magical blood has caused the reaction to be emphasised. It's made its way through her entire body." I closed my eyes, trying not to panic. The hand gripping mine squeezed in comfort.

"To get rid of both the reaction and the venom causing it, her blood needs to be cleaned. Magical remedies can only help up to a certain point, which the healers have already performed. We now need someone to donate some of their blood so that it can run through her system and replace the last of her own tainted blood. It has to be magical blood though and they most likely will need to be related to her as they're more likely to have the right blood type. You're understanding me so far?" Hermione nodded.

"So it's like a muggle blood transfusion?" she asked. Ginny nodded.

"Exactly like that. We're just hoping that you or Rosie match her blood type as we don't keep great stores of blood like the muggle hospitals do. We don't really have much need for it. Plus magical folk are really iffy about donating blood. They can never be sure what it's going to be used in"

"Well what are we waiting for then? Test me!" Hermione demanded. Ginny grinned at her and pulled out her wand.

"Hold out your hand" she said. She took her wand and muttered a charm, causing a small nick to appear in Hermione's skin.

"If it glows yellow, you match. If it glows blue you don't" she said as she waved her wand over the drop of blood. We all held our breaths as she finished circling the nick and when it glowed blue, the disappointment in the room was palatable.

"Ok then, I guess I'm next" I said as Hermione turned and once again buried her head into Fred's chest. I could see her shoulders shaking slightly with sobs. Oh Gods, please let me match. I pulled my hand out of the persons next to me, who I now realised had been George's, and held it out to Ginny. She cast the same spell over me. The weight of horror and disappointment was crushing when once again, the drop glowed blue. Ginny looked at us, her eyes fill of sadness.

"We can still look through what we have though I do warn you, it's not much so the likelihood of finding a match is very small" she said.

"What happens if you don't find a match?" Hermione whispered. Ginny cringed slightly at this and I knew it wasn't going to be good news.

"I'm really sorry Hermione but if we don't find a match, Winnie will die."

As Ginny called another healer to go and check their stores for Winnie's blood type, who came back very quickly and said that they didn't have it, Hermione's anguished sobs filled the room and I drew my legs up and put my head on my knees. I began to shake. Dear Merlin, why did this have to happen? It wasn't fair! Hermione was just settling into happiness! There had to be something we could do! I shot up from my chair and began to pace again.

"We have to do _something!_ Come on guys, think! We have magic behind us for Godrics sake!" I said. My words seemed to draw Hermione out of her distress and she sat up and wiped her face.

"We need to find someone who's willing to donate that has Winnie's blood type. Which unfortunately will be pretty hard to do" Harry said, looking down at his now sleeping children.

"That, or we need to find some that already has been donated though I don't know where you'd get that from" Fred said and Hermione's eyes suddenly widened.

"What is it?" I asked her. She stared at me.

"What about Malfoy? He's helped us out before with getting something hard to find. Think he can do it again?" I gave her a dubious look.

"I don't know Hermione. He had connections back then. He's pretty legit now though."

"Yes but he might know where to start looking! It's worth a try!"

"Hold on, Malfoy helped you guys with something? When? And what with?" Fred asked, frowning in confusion. Hermione sighed.

"He helped us get an illegal multiple trip port key so that we could leave, go to Australia and then New York" she said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Arthur frown in disapproval.

"How in the bloody hell did you get Malfoy to help you with anything?" Harry asked. Hermione met my eyes and then looked down.

"Ah, well, he sort of owed us. Or more Rosie" she said and Ginny frowned.

"Owed you? For what?"

"Ah…"

"It's ok Mione, they may as well know. In fifth year I made a very bad decision and, ah, sort of slept with him."

"_You slept with Draco Malfoy?_" The absolute disbelief in Ginny's voice would have been funny if the conversation hadn't been so serious. I nodded, steadily avoiding looking anywhere near George.

"Yeah I did, and it was something I wish I had never done. I was far too young and he treated me like complete crap afterwards. Made me feel like a trashy little slapper. So we used that and the fact that he'd been aware we were being held at his house during the war but didn't do anything about it, and sort of guilted him into helping us. I don't think it'll work this time though. As you said before Hermione, we've burned that bridge."

"He won't do it just because you two are together now?" George asked softly, his gaze on the floor. I frowned.

"What? We're not together" I said and George's eyes shot up and met mine, filled with an emotion I couldn't describe. They then met the floor again and I noticed that his hands were now trembling slightly. Not ready to deal with the confusion this caused, I turned back to Hermione.

"We can always ask but I don't see how he can help this time" I said. She moaned in disappointment. I sat back down and rubbed her shoulder.

"Don't worry Hermione, we'll find something" I said and she nodded and grabbed Fred's arm, pulling up the sleeve of his dress robes slightly in the process. I frowned at the small bandage that was revealed.

"What happened?" I asked him. He raised his eyebrows at me in question and I nodded at his arm.

"Oh nothing really, just a small graze I got while searching for Winnie. Haven't gotten round to healing it yet" he said.

"I'll do it now" Hermione said pulling out her wand, probably glad to have something else to focus her mind on. I continued to stare at the bandage as her wand came out. A multitude of images began to flow through my mind and as Hermione pulled the bandage off and went to wave her wand at it, I put my hand on her arm to stop her.

"What's wrong?" she asked frowning. I met her gaze, my eyes wide with shock. No. It couldn't be. Could it?

"Rosie?" Hermione asked and as everyone stared at me in confusion, I reached out and grabbed the bandage out of Hermione's hand and held it out to Ginny.

"Test it" I said. She looked at me like I was mental. "Please Ginny, just give it a go."

She shrugged and waved her wand over it. The colour the blood produced was neither blue nor yellow, but instead a carroty orange. Ginny's mouth fell open in shock.

"What does that mean?" I demanded and she slowly raised her eyes and stared at Fred.

"It glows yellow if anyone matches but it glows orange if it finds the best match it can possibly find. The type of match that can only come from a close blood relation." Fred frowned at her.

"But I'm not a blood relation" he said. Ginny swallowed.

"Yes you are. The spell never lies Fred. It can only possibly mean one thing." Hermione's eyes widened.

"Oh wow" she said weakly. The confused look on Fred's face meant he still wasn't getting it. Ginny took a deep breath.

"Fred… you're Winnie's father."


	17. Chapter 17

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Seventeen.

"_What does that mean?" I demanded and she slowly raised her eyes and stared at Fred._

"_It glows yellow if anyone matches but it glows orange if it finds the best match it can possible find. The type of match that can only come from a close blood relation." Fred frowned at her._

"_But I'm not a blood relation" he said. Ginny swallowed._

"_Yes you are. The spell never lies Fred. It can only possibly mean one thing." Hermione's eyes widened._

"_Oh wow" she said weakly. The confused look on Fred's face meant he still wasn't getting it. Ginny took a deep breath._

"_Fred… you're Winnie's father."_

As surprised gasps echoed through the room, Fred stared at Ginny in stupefied silence for the longest time. We all watched him anxiously, waiting for his reaction.

"Fred? Are you ok honey?" Molly asked as she got up and went and crouched in front of her son. Fred blinked at her.

"Ah… yeah. It's just a shock I guess. I'm a father mum" he said, his eyes dazed with astonishment and finally wonderment. I smiled when I saw this. I knew that after he got over the shock, he'd be happy about it.

"Yes it seems you are love" she said, smiling softly at him.

"But… I don't understand! How?" Hermione asked, confused. "We used the contraceptive charm! Every time!" she said, not noticing the way Molly cringed slightly at her words. No mother wanted to think of one of her babies doing that, no matter how old they were. "And that doesn't fail like muggle contraception does! And how the bloody hell did you figure all this out Rosie?" she asked me. I frowned and shrugged.

"I don't know really, I was staring at the Fred's bloody bandage it just clicked I guess. They're so much alike Hermione. Remember the flour?" Hermione's eyes widened and she grinned.

"Flour?" Harry asked curiously. Fred was still trying to take in the fact that Winnie was his. I smiled.

"Winnie once played a prank on Hermione where a bag of flour fell off a shelf and coated her from head to toe. It was pretty funny" I said and Fred's eyes brightened.

"Yeah for you maybe, you didn't have to spend the next half an hour trying to get flour out of your hair" Hermione muttered and Harry laughed.

"She's always happy and laughing and loves to make others laugh, which is the twins down to a tee. She never gets hit by the pillows I throw at her in the morning-" everyone laughed at this. "– I'm guessing that's her hereditary beater skills. She loves to fly – you saw how she reacted when Bill took her up. But the most obvious sign…"

"Her hair" Hermione breathed.

"Yup. We thought it was because the snatcher was red headed" I said. "It would have been completely recognizable that she was Fred's if you hadn't insisted that you used the charm Mione."

"But we did!" Hermione cried, frustrated.

"How about we leave the explanations until later and go help Winnie now ok? That's if you're willing to do it Fred?" Ginny asked. Fred's gaze shot up to her.

"Of course I am! She's my daughter! What do you take me for?" he all but growled at her. Ginny held her hands up in surrender.

"Ok ok, I just had to ask. It's part of our policy" she said.

"Shouldn't have even asked me that in the first place. Should've just gone ahead and assumed I would say yes so we could get right to it" Fred muttered in annoyance. "Well come on then, let's go" he demanded, jumping from his seat and heading to the door, Hermione only a step or two behind him. As we all got up to follow them and Ginny, Bill staying behind to watch over the three sleeping children, Arthur came over to walk beside his wife. Molly smiled at him.

"We have another grandchild Arthur. She was part of the family before anyway but now she is by blood" I heard Molly say to him as we headed down the hall and into Winnie's room.

"I know my love. It's wonderful isn't it?" he said and cuddled her into his shoulder. I smiled to myself. It was great to know Winnie would always have people behind her.

Entering Winnie's room and seeing her lying so still and pale in the bed almost caused me to lose it. The bed seemed to engulf her, making her look even smaller then she was. Her eyes were closed, the pale blue veins in her eyelids very visible against her skin. I shuddered and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep myself calm. I just had to hold on a little while longer. Once I knew Winnie was going to be alright again, then I could go and have the breakdown that I knew was quickly creeping up on me. With a quiet sob, Hermione rushed to her daughter's side and swiftly took her hand. Ginny went and stood beside her and gestured to Fred to sit down in the chair on the other side of the bed.

"So how do we do this?" Fred asked, his eyes glued to Winnie's face.

"It's easy. You've already got a source of blood available to us" Ginny said, nodding at the still unhealed graze on his arm. "We just need to make one for Winnie so your blood can enter her body. She shouldn't need much, the healers managed to clean up most of the taint, but if at any time you feel faint we can switch to George. He'll have the same blood type as you and Winnie. I assume you're willing?" she said, turning to George who had gone to stand beside his twin and was resting his hand on his shoulder in support. George raised his eyebrow at her in amusement.

"Once again a question you don't need to ask" he said and Ginny sighed and muttered to herself about brothers who had no respect for her job. She pulled out her wand.

"Take her hand" she told Fred, who quickly did as he was told. Ginny then cast the same spell on Winnie that she had cast on Hermione and I when she had drawn our blood to test it. But she did it on a bigger scale this time. Hermione whimpered in distress as we watched a large cut appear on Winnie's arm. Molly rubbed her shoulder in comfort.

"It's ok, it's only shallow and she can't feel it. I'll heal it as soon as the procedure has worked. She won't even know it was there" Ginny said in a soothing voice. She took a deep breath and proceeded to perform a complicated spell over Fred and Winnie's linked hands. A burst of cloudy white light erupted from the end of her wand, soon forming a sort of bridge between the two cuts on father and daughters arms. As soon as both ends made contact with their skin, the almost solid cloudy bridge turned a soft pink.

"There we go; the blood's now being transferred. It shouldn't take long for you to notice a difference" Ginny said as she put away her wand again. And she was right. Not five minutes after the spell had started; colour slowly began seeping its way back into Winnie's cheeks. It was amazing and rather disturbing to watch. It was almost as if she was coming back to life in front of our eyes. Watching it, I knew I would have to get out of there very soon. I didn't want anyone, especially Hermione, to see me fall apart.

"I think I figured out how she ended up being mine" Fred said quietly, his eyes still on Winnie's face. Hermione's head came up at this and she stared at him.

"How?" she asked. Fred's eyes flicked to hers and then back to Winnie.

"Yes we did cast it every time, but you weren't always the one who cast it. I did it at least once. Did it wandlessly as well. Normally I'm good at wandless magic, but that time I was ah, sort of was in a rush and, well, um, got distracted. I wasn't sure if it had worked and I was going to recast it but then I got more distracted and ah… well you get the picture" he finished in a rush. Hermione's mouth fell open.

"I got pregnant and ended up living my life away from everyone I loved because you got _distracted?_" she asked him incredulously. Fred's head swung round and he frowned at her.

"Hey that was _your_ choice! You didn't have to leave!" he snapped and Hermione quickly lowered her gaze. Fred sighed.

"It doesn't matter now anyway, it happened and all that matters is that we move in the right direction from now on" he said. As they had done many times in the past, Fred and Hermione once again seemed to have forgotten they weren't the only ones in the room.

"Oh? And what direction is that?" Hermione asked, her voice soft with warning. I swallowed and crossed my fingers, only to be disappointed when Fred unfortunately didn't heed the warning. Instead he squared his shoulders.

"I think you should marry me" he said. Once again Hermione's mouth fell open and I groaned, a sentiment that was echoed by the other women in the room. Even the guys looked at Fred as if he was stupid.

"What? You can't be serious! What happened to taking it slow?" Hermione spluttered. Fred frowned.

"I'm completely serious. Things have changed now Hermione. Winnie is my daughter so it makes sense that we get married. For her" he said. Hermione stared at him.

"It makes sense. For Winnie." Hermione monotoned and when Fred frowned and nodded, her body stilled and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were dull and her voice was devoid of emotion.

"We'll talk about this later" she said, once again looking at her daughter. I cringed. Merlin, Fred had really made a mess of things this time. Fred drew his eyebrows together in confusion and he opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted when Winnie stirred in the bed. She coughed slightly and blinked her eyes open. Hermione jumped up.

"Winnie love? It's ok baby, I'm here" she crooned to her daughter softly.

"Mommy?" Winnie whimpered, fear threading through her voice. "Where am I? What happened to me?" Hermione climbed up onto the bed and drew her daughter into her arms.

"You're in the hospital honey. You got bitten by a snake and your body didn't react to it very well. You're ok now though. Isn't she?" Hermione asked Ginny in a slightly desperate voice. Ginny, who had just finished removing the blood transferring spell and healing both Fred and Winnie's cuts, nodded.

"She'll be fine now. We'll keep her in overnight just to be sure though. You can take her home tomorrow" she said. Hermione sagged heavily in relief. As everyone crowded around the bed to make sure for themselves that Winnie was ok, I quietly drew back and left the room. I was extremely relieved and incredibly happy Winnie was going to be fine but I just couldn't seem to get the way she looked in my arms when I had first brought her here out of my head, and I knew I couldn't hold back my reaction anymore. Not wanting to freak everyone out, I needed to find somewhere to have my breakdown in private.

I found myself outside. It was a warm night, the stars shining brightly in the sky and the moon adequately lighting my way. I hurried around the side of the building and slumped down onto the ground with my back against the wall. Hidden there in the shadows, I hoped that if someone did come searching for me, the darkness of the wall would conceal my hiding place until I was able to get a hold of myself. As soon as my backside touched the grass, I put my head in my hands, slumped over and curled up into myself. My breathing kicked up until I was hyperventilating and as violent trembles began shaking my small frame, I finally gave in to the panic attack that had been lurking ominously over my shoulder for the past few hours. Tears poured down my cheeks and I made no attempt to stop them. I hated breaking down like this. But I had been holding it in for so long that I knew the only way to get rid of it was to let it out. None of my techniques would work at the moment; the attack was just too strong. I rested my head on my knees and tried to deepen my breathing. Flashes of Winnie's body flopping around like a dying fish flew through my head, accompanied by images of Hermione's ordeal, and I moaned and shook even harder. I gritted my teeth hard and tried my best to bear my way through it. I was so caught up in my body's reaction that I didn't notice someone sitting down beside me until I was suddenly pulled into a pair of strong arms. I jumped in fright and started struggling, trying to pull myself away. The arms weren't letting me go though.

"Shh shh it's ok. Winnie's fine. She's fine Rosie" a voice said and I started when I recognised it as George's. Oh gods no. I couldn't let him see me like this! I started struggling even harder, which unfortunately had no effect. If anything his arms tightened even further around me and he hurled me up into his lap.

"Please Rosie! I know you don't like me and don't want or need my help, but please just this once let me help you! You need to calm down. You'll pass out soon if you don't settle your breathing down" he said, his voice filled with desperation. My struggles slowed as his words finally got through to me. He was right. Fainting wouldn't help anyone. It would just freak Hermione out even more.

"Ok, that's it. Great. Now look at me Rosie. Deep breath in… good good. Now hold… and slowly let it out. And deep breath in again…"

I stared into his eyes as he took me through the breathing exercises I had learnt years ago. He breathed with me and slowly, _very_ slowly, my own breathing returned to normal and my heart rate slowed down.

"Ok that's great Rosie. Are you ok now?" he asked. I nodded. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hermione step round the corner and stop. George saw her too and shook his head at her, telling her that he had it under control and to head back inside. She nodded and looked at me for a second with a worried scowl on her face before turning around and heading back into the building. I sighed. I would have a lot of explaining to do later. Suddenly realising I was still sitting in George's lap, I tried to pull away. Once again though he wouldn't let me.

"No stay here for a minute" he said and for some reason I did. Using the excuse that this would probably be the one and only time I would be able to get away with it, I allowed myself to relax into him. His chest was incredibly comfortable to rest against. I was surrounded by his warmth and I loved it. I hid my face in his chest as images of Winnie once again flashed through my mind. I shuddered.

"Winnie is fine Rosie" George said, his voice rumbling through his chest. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with his wonderfully addicting scent. I've never been able to find the right words to describe his personal aroma. It was something like ozone, something sharp, something that sparked and fizzed and exploded. It was pure magic mixed in with the scent of new books and it was intoxicating.

"She wasn't though. She was really sick. She almost died George. Because of me" I mumbled into his dressrobes. George seemed to freeze for a second and then he grabbed my arms, hauled me back and stared into my eyes.

"No Rosie! Not because of you! Because of a snake and an unexpected reaction! It wasn't your fault! Hermione doesn't blame you does she? She was out here before because she was worried about you! Would she do that if she blamed you for her daughter getting sick?" I shook my head.

"Of course she wouldn't. She loves you Rosie. She was telling the truth when she said that she didn't expect you to have seen a snake hiding in the brush when Winnie was running in front of you. They aren't very big and you don't have the vision of a hawk. It was an accident."

"Yes but-"

"I'm not finished Rosie" he said and I frowned at him. "You couldn't have predicted that Winnie was going to get bitten and you couldn't have predicted that she was going to react to it the way she did. You're not a sear. It's just another one of those things you couldn't have prevented. Just like no matter how hard you tried, you could not have stopped what happened to Hermione at the Manor. You were bloody lucky it didn't happen to you as well! Now stop with this useless guilt and except that some things were just meant to happen, no matter how horrible they are." I mouth fell open and I pulled out of his arms. He let me this time. I swung around to face him, my hands on my hips.

"You're telling me that you believe Winnie was meant to get bitten by that Adder?" I demanded. He nodded.

"Yes I do. I've thought about it and realised that it was neither of our faults. It was terrible, but if it hadn't happened my brother would still be in the dark about having a daughter. And Winnie would grow up believing that her father was a horrific person who had hurt her mother. Now she doesn't have to think that. She'll have a father by blood who will love both her and her mother. That's if he ever manages to take his bloody foot out of his mouth" he muttered. "Oh, and now that we've found out that Winnie is Fred's, don't you dare start thinking that that means you could have stopped Hermione going through what she did. Even if it didn't create Winnie, both of you were still meant to go through it and come out the other side the way you are now. Strong independent women. Especially you Rosie. You wouldn't be who you are today if you hadn't experienced that." George finally stopped, his eyes boring into mine and his chest rising and falling with the passion in his words. I stared at him, stunned.

"Who am I then?" I whispered. He laughed.

"You're an amazing, strong, confident, intelligent, gentle, kind, loving, loyal and brave person whom I greatly admire. You're the type of person that everyone wants to be around. The type of person who loves so much that she agonises herself sick over things she can't change. The type of person who brings joy to people's lives just by being alive. The type of person who –" I held up my hand to stop him.

"Why are you saying such things to me?" I asked, my voice full of distress and confusion. It was almost as if…

"Oh dear Godric Rosie, are you really that blind?" George cried. He crossed his arms over his chest, paced away from me and then paced back.

"Blind? I'm not blind!" I said in an insulted tone. George threw up his hands and growled.

"Yes you bloody well are! You can't even see what's in front of your face and has been for years!" I groaned and rubbed my face with my hands.

"George please, I don't know what your talking-"

"Oh for the love of Merlin's most saggy bottom Y fronts Rosie! I'm bloody well in love with you!" George cried in frustration. But then, after realising what he had just confessed to, he froze. He gulped, slowly raised his eyes to mine and stared at me. I stared back. I finally folded my arms and scowled at him.

"Bullshit."


	18. Chapter 18

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Eighteen.

"_George please, I don't know what your talking-"_

"_Oh for the love of Merlin's most saggy bottom Y fronts Rosie! I'm bloody well in love with you!" George cried in frustration. And then, after realising what he had just said, he froze. He gulped, slowly raised his eyes to mine and stared at me. I stared back. I finally folded my arms and scowled at him._

"_Bullshit." _

As I stood there and glared at him, George's mouth fell open. He blinked a couple of times, frowned, and then proceeded to turn his head on the side and smack his ear a few times. Once he was satisfied with that, he turned his head over and smacked the other ear. My agitation turned to confusion as I watched him frown again, shake his head and then repeat the process.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" I growled at him. George stopped his confusing actions and looked at me.

"I was just checking to see if I still had water in my ears from the shower this morning. But nope, doesn't seem to be anything in there, so I must have heard you right. Just to confirm though, did you just say 'bullshit' to me telling you that I loved you?" he asked in a pleasant voice. My agitation came back with a vengeance. I glared at him again and crossed my arms in defiance.

"Yes I did."

"Ok… why? Because that's really not the reaction I was expecting you know" he said. "Usually when the guy tells the girl that he loves her, she doesn't get angry and swear at him. Not that I've had much experience in that area. You are the first girl I've ever said that to. Care to explain?" He looked at me with an expectant expression on his face. I glowered.

"I have every right to get angry when someone I thought was better than that lies to my face." George's mouth fell open again.

"Lie to you? What are you talking about? I'm not lying to you! I meant every word!" he said, his voice full of confusion. I scoffed.

"Oh come on George, I know for a fact that you don't love me. What I really didn't expect is for you to pull something like this. I didn't think you were a game player. I thought that was more Draco's area then yours."

"You know for a fact? How exactly do you know that?" he said, frustration creeping into his voice. "I'm not playing a game! And what the bloody hell does Malfoy have to do with me loving you? With us?" I sucked in a breath as he said it again.

"You don't love me! And he doesn't have anything to do with us! There is no us!" I said and George groaned.

"Then why did you bring him up? I don't bloody well want to talk about him! And you didn't answer my question. How exactly do you know that I don't love you?" I moaned silently as he said that word again. Every time he said it, it hurt just as much as it had the first time.

"You should already know how I know! Now can you please just stop this? Let's forget you even brought it up ok? I have to get back." I said. I started walking back to the entrance of the hospital but was pulled to a stop when George grabbed my arm. He stared at me with eyes filled with frustration, frustration the slowly turned to comprehension and disbelief the longer he looked into my eyes.

"You really don't believe me do you?" he said in astonishment. He shook his head and gave a faint laugh. "I make the most important declaration of my life and the woman I make it to doesn't believe me. No, refuses to believe me" he said, frowning at me. I sighed.

"How can I believe you when I know that what you said can't possibly be true?" George groaned.

"Once again, how can you possibly know anything about the way I feel? You may be in my heart Rosie, but you're most definitely not in my head. So please don't try and tell me that you know more about my own feelings then I do!" he cried, his voice thick with frustration and annoyance. I blanched and tried to tug my arm out of his grip. No such luck. My heart started pounding hard as I tried my best to get away from him. Every word he said was like another blow straight to my centre. Why did he continue to insist on playing this horrible little game? Did he like hurting me? I had no idea why he had lied to me in the first place, or why he continued to do it now, but I really didn't like it. My desperate bids to get away increased.

"George please let me go" I said, trying my best to stop my voice from shaking. George glowered at me, his anger building rapidly.

"No. Not until we sort this out" he said in a hard voice.

"There's nothing to sort out!" I cried. George growled and tugged me closer.

"Yes there bloody well is! I deserve an explanation!" he snarled at me. He grip on my arm was incredibly tight and with a burst of panic, I suddenly realised that he wasn't going to let this go.

"You deserve an explanation? Someone who uses the word love just to get into someone else's pants doesn't deserve anything!"

George let go of my arm and stepped away from me so fast that I swayed slightly at the sudden loss of support. He stared at me blankly, his face very pale.

"You actually believe that I would do that to you? You really think that little of me" he said in a hollow voice. I cringed. Of course I didn't believe that. In my panic I had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. I opened my mouth to explain this and then closed it again. If I told him that, he would want to know what I panicking about and that would start the conversation all over again, which was something I really didn't want happening. I frowned and looked at him helplessly. Damn it. He drew in a deep slow breath and then seemed to sag in defeat.

"Well ok then. I guess that answers the question of whether you might feel the same way about me someday" he said in a small quiet voice. "You better go back in. Winnie's probably wondering where you are." I flinched at the pain I heard under his words. I hadn't wanted to hurt him.

"George I-"

"Just go Rosie. You're needed inside"

I watched him as he turned away from me. I even took a step toward him, wanting to comfort him in some way. I knew he would never do what I had accused him of doing. But I couldn't reassure him of that because him believing that I did think that was the only way to get him to drop the original subject. I sighed, completely disgusted with myself. In order to prevent my own pain, I had deliberately caused it in someone else instead. And to someone who had just gone to all the trouble of helping me through a pretty intense panic attack as well. All because I was a weak coward who didn't want to relive painful memories. Gods I'm a terrible person. So, not knowing any way to fix the situation without hurting myself or George even more, I silently turned around and headed back to Hermione and Winnie. So much for trying to deal with my feelings from now on instead of hiding from them.

When I stepped into Winnie's room, I saw that the others must have already headed home. Hermione was the only one in there. This surprised me a little as I had been sure Fred wouldn't have left his daughters side tonight either. Winnie was sleeping peacefully and deeply in the bed, Hermione sitting beside her, the latter looking up as I walked through the door. She frowned at me and raised her eyebrow in question.

"Are you ok?" she asked, staring into my eyes. I lowered my gaze and shook my head. She huffed.

"You do believe that this wasn't your fault don't you?" she asked with narrowed eyes. "Winnie is going to be fine now so you have nothing to blame yourself for. Even if she hadn't of been, you still wouldn't have been at fault." I looked at her and shook my head again.

"No I don't blame myself. At least not anymore. It wasn't something I could have prevented from happening. It was just one of those things I guess" I said. And I did believe that. George had had some success at getting through to me before he went and buggered everything up. Hermione sighed in relief as she saw this truth in my eyes.

"So what's the matter then? You look terrible" she said in concern. I sat down on the other side of the bed and took Winnie's hand.

"I just did something I'm ashamed of" I said quietly, staring at Winnie's sleeping face. Hermione blinked in confusion and opened her mouth, I'm guessing to ask what I had done. I shook my head at her.

"I really don't want to talk about it. Not at the moment." I said "So where's Fred?" Hermione scowled at the mention of his name.

"He went home to change. Left just before you arrived actually. Said he wouldn't be long and then I can go home and 'get some rest'." She scoffed. "As if I'd leave Winnie alone at the moment."

"Why didn't he just transfigure his clothes like you did?" I asked her, gesturing down at her sweatshirt and jeans. She grimaced and sighed.

"I think he might have wanted to get away from me for a little while. I don't think I was being practically welcoming. But what did he expect? Trying to take over the situation and all but demanding that I marry him. Because it 'makes sense'. Oh yeah, that's exactly the way I want to be proposed to" she said sarcastically. "Incredibly romantic. Stupid git." I chuckled to myself at her dark mutterings.

"He was just trying to be sensible about the situation" I said and then held up my hands as Hermione turned her head and glared at me.

"Ok I'll admit he could have been a little more… well just more I guess. But you know he loves you and weren't you planning on marrying him sometime in the future anyway?"

"Yes I was but not because I have to! I don't need to marry Fred. i just want to. And I most definitely don't need to 'move in the right direction'. I was planning on marrying him because I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I thought he felt the same way. I guess I was wrong though." I reached across the bed and grabbed her hand.

"You weren't wrong Mione. Fred loves you and also wants to spend the rest of his life with you because of that. I think finding out Winnie is his has just sped up his thinking a little. You know he wants to settle down and have a family of his own; he always has, but almost dying during the Final Battle made that even more important to him. He's just jumping at the chance to get what he wants, that's all." Hermione sighed.

"I want that too. And if he comes to his senses and actually asks me to marry him instead of demanding it, I'll probably say yes. Winnie deserves to have a father who loves her by her side constantly. But I won't put her into a situation where her mother will probably end feeling bitter and sad all the time because her father made her think that he only married her because he thought he had to." I smiled at her.

"Well good for you. I agree with you there. But are you going to be able to say no? Fred's ego may not handle that very well, not to mention he'll probably think you don't love him and are trying to keep his daughter away from him." Hermione looked shocked.

"I would never do that! No, I'll probably say yes eventually but he's going to have to ask me properly first and for reasons other than he just wants an instant family you know?" I nodded.

"Yeah I do. Make him sweat a bit until he figures that out" I said and Hermione nodded and grinned.

"So… this thing you're ashamed of. Would it have something to do with George comforting you earlier?" I grimaced. I knew Hermione wouldn't let that go that easily.

"Not really. It was after that" I said with a sigh.

"What happened?" she asked curiously. "You're not ashamed of breaking down are you? I did it earlier and you love Winnie just as much as I do." I glanced away guiltily. Hermione frowned in annoyance.

"When are you going to realise that showing other people your emotions isn't a bad thing Rosie? Everyone needs to let them out every once in a while. You shouldn't be running away and hiding. It's ok to let someone comfort you. It isn't weak. You don't think I'm weak when I have trouble with flashbacks do you?" I shook my head.

"No but that's different."

"How is it different? It's the same thing. We're both experiencing emotions that we can cope with better when we have someone to help and support us. So if I'm not weak then neither are you. Is this getting through to you even a little?" I sighed.

"I know I should believe that Mione, but it's really hard. I've been doing things this way most of my life. Being strong for others and not showing my own emotions is second nature to me."

"Well get over it already! Holding everything in is what's been causing your panic attacks and you'll just make me angry if you keep going off and trying to deal with things alone like you did tonight! Though that did turn out ok, going by what I saw. I don't think you and George could have possibly gotten any closer" she said with a smirk. I cringed.

"Yeah he was being really nice. And then he went and stuffed it all up!" I cried in frustration. Hermione frowned.

"What did he do?" she asked. I sighed.

"He decided to play some sort of game by lying to me and telling me that he loves me" I said angrily. Hermione's eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Really? Wow, he actually did it. Hold on, you said he lied to you. How'd he do that? Wait, you don't actually think that him telling you he loves you was a lie do you?"

"Of course it was. George doesn't love me. But he kept insisting he did and then he got angry when I wouldn't believe him. Kept trying to get me to tell him why. And I started to panic that he would get it out of me!"

"Get what out of you?" Hermione asked quietly and I groaned.

"The fact that I've been in love with him for bloody years and that finding out he hated me was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced! And oh gods Hermione, I did a really horrible thing." Hermione got up, came over and put her arm around my shoulder.

"What did you do honey? I'm sure it's not that bad" she said, trying to sooth me. I groaned and put my head in my hands.

"I accused him of telling me he loves me to get me into bed. And because it got him to leave the subject alone, I didn't correct him when he asked if I really thought that little of him" I whispered. Hermione sucked in a breath in shock.

"Oh Rosie" she said softly. I cringed.

"I'm a horrible person Hermione. I hurt him so much" I said. She rubbed my shoulder.

"No you're not love. Just one who isn't used to sharing what she's feeling with others. You're really going to have to get over that you know, and talk to him about the reason why you thought he was lying. Plus on top of that you're going to have to apologise. Majorly apologise. You can't just leave everything like it is now. If you do it'll destroy any chance of you two ever being friends." I sighed.

"I know, but I don't think I can face him at the moment. The look on his face… He's a good person who would never do something like that and I basically accused him of treating me the way Draco did. I compared him to Draco. I can't believe I did that." Hermione looked surprised.

"Malfoy didn't tell you he loved you to get you to sleep with him did he?" she asked and I shook my head.

"No but he did say almost everything but. He knew exactly what I needed to hear in that moment and used it mercilessly." Hermione scowled.

"Ghastly prat. Well it looks like we've both got man trouble to sort out then don't we?" she said and I laughed. This was not the sort of man trouble either of us wanted to have.

Fred came back about ten minutes later and tried his best to get Hermione to go home. She wasn't budging though. He did manage to convince both of us to get up so he could turn our chairs and a trashcan into lazyboys. He said we might as well be as comfortable as possible. After he sat down he tossed a wooden jar at me. I caught it and looked at him questionably.

"It's bruise balm for your face. I went outside before I Apperated back to the house to see if you and George were ok but obviously I only found George. Did you guys have a fight? He didn't look very happy." I winced.

"Ah yeah, you could say that" I mumbled. Fred frowned.

"Well then in must have been a doozy because I don't think I've seen him look that upset in years. I tried to get him to talk about it but he seemed to want to remain tight-lipped. You'll sort it out won't you?" he asked and then nodded and answered his own question. "Course you will. You mean too much to him for him to stay angry at you." I frowned at this but Fred didn't notice. "I asked if he was going to come back in, which he said no to, but he did remind me to get some of that for you. I grabbed it from the shop before I came back here. We have plenty of the stuff. We have to" he said with a rueful grin.

I swallowed and stared at the small jar in my hand. The fact that he would still be trying to take care of me, even after I had hurt him so much, just proved what an amazing person he was. He really did care about people, even the ones he didn't like. I had completely forgotten about the bruise on my cheek. Seems George hadn't though. As even more guilt flooded my system, I sighed. I most definitely had a lot to make up for. I looked up and silently held the jar out to Hermione, who took it with a small sympathetic smile. I was quite happy to leave the bruise where it was, but if George wanted it gone that badly, I wasn't going to argue. Hermione coated my cheek with the balm and I could feel it tingle as the magic started working. Soon you wouldn't even be able to tell I'd been slapped at all. The bruise would have vanished into thin air. I wished I could make the past hour do that. This was the perfect situation to use a time turner in but unfortunately I didn't have one and didn't have the money to get one either. I would just have to buck up and try to deal with the consequences of my truly stupid actions without relying on magic to help.


	19. Chapter 19

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Nineteen.

_Hermione coated my cheek with the balm and I could feel it tingle as the magic started working. Soon you wouldn't even be able to tell I'd been slapped at all. The bruise would have vanished into thin air. I wished I could make the past hour do that. This was the perfect situation to use a time turner in but unfortunately I didn't have one and didn't have the money to get one either. I would just have to buck up and try to deal with the consequences of my truly stupid actions without any magical help. _

After a final check over by the healers, who pronounced her good to go, the next morning Hermione and I were able to take Winnie home. Fred wanted to accompany us as well but after a frown from Hermione, he backed down and said he'd go open the shop instead. Hermione sighed slightly in relief and then with a brief smile, said he could come up and check on her whenever he wanted. Fred's grin was huge at these words. He knew the Hermione was angry at him for some reason, he just didn't know what for. I think he may have been slightly concerned the she was trying to keep Winnie away from him. He needn't have worried though. Hermione wasn't the sort of person who would do that. She just needed some time alone with her daughter before they took the big step in telling Winnie about Fred. So we finally took Winnie home and once we got there, Hermione made her go straight to bed. While I flooed Florish & Blotts to let them know why I wouldn't be in that day, Winnie began grumbling, whining that today should have been her first day of school with Victoire and Teddy. Hermione's reaction to her six year old daughter for once acting her age just proved how much the snake incident had scared her. She snapped angrily at Winnie, telling her to stop whingeing, she wasn't going to school today and to get to her room this instant! I stared at her, shocked. Hermione never spoke to Winnie that way. But then again, apart from the occasional prank, Winnie hardly ever gave her reason to. Winnie's bottom lip began to tremble at her mother's tone and she turned and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Why don't you go to bed as well?" I suggested to her and she gave me a wry smile.

"Think maybe it'll stop me talking to my child like she's a dog?" she asked with an exhausted laugh. I put my arm around her.

"Couldn't hurt" I said grinning. Hermione laughed again and then looked at me.

"You need rest as well you know. You've been through just as much as I have" she said and I grimaced. I most definitely wouldn't be able to sleep at the moment. Far too much rolling around in my head for that. Seeing my expression, Hermione snorted.

"No I didn't think so" she said. "I'll be fine as well. I better go talk to Winnie though."

I nodded and Hermione headed towards Winnie's room, knocking on the door quietly before entering. I heard her speak to her daughter in a soft tone before she closed the door behind her. I made my way over the couch and collapsed into it with a tired sigh. Merlin my life was a mess at the moment. We had come back to England to try and make our lives better. To introduce Winnie to a fuller, more complete life with more than just the two of us in it. Not her life hadn't been full to begin with, but with all of our friends around her, her life would be… well have more in it I suppose. It would be broader. We had succeeded in that even more than we expected to. Winnie would now have a father in her life, one who would love her with everything he had. I had been hoping that this would happen anyway, that Hermione and Fred would get back together and Fred would become Winnie's father that way. But him being her father by blood… well that made it even better for her because it meant that Fred would stay in her life even in Fred and Hermione didn't work things out. I was pretty positive they would though. They loved each other too much not to. So things would hopefully work themselves out for the three of them but for me… I had no idea what would happen there. I knew that I had to apologize to George. Hermione was right. I couldn't leave things the way they were. I also knew that the apology would lead into deeper revelations. It still petrified me to think of that unavoidable conversation. But I knew I had to do it. I had to live up to my supposed Gryffindor nature, stop being a coward and go talk to him. Maybe I'd get some answers about why he lied to me at the same time. My decision made, I was about to get up and head down to the shop before I lost my nerve when the door to Winnie's room opened and Winnie stepped out. Without saying a word she climbed up onto the couch and in to my lap. My arms came around her and I sucked in a breath and hugged her fiercely, glad to finally have physical proof that she was ok. I had seen her wake up of course, but having her in my arms gave me the final confirmation I didn't know I needed.

"You right there Tabby Cat?" I asked her in a slightly rough voice. She nodded silently and sniffed.

"Where's you mum?" I asked, looking toward her door. Hermione hadn't followed her out so I presumed she was still in Winnie's room.

"She fell asleep on the bed. I didn't want to wake her. She looked so tired" Winnie said in a small voice. "I didn't mean to whine Aunt Rosie. I just wanted to go to school and see Victoire and Teddy." I ran my hand over her hair.

"I know that love. Your mum does as well. And she didn't mean to snap at you. She told you that didn't she?" Winnie nodded. "You gave us a scare when you ran off and then got bitten by that snake. It's a lot for your mum to deal with you know. She loves you so much. She'll probably be a little snappy until she gets over the fright. Did you apologize to her for running off?" Winnie shifted guilty on my lap.

"I didn't mean to scare everyone" she whispered. I sighed.

"We know that as well honey but unfortunately you did. The snake wasn't your fault at all but you shouldn't have run away like that. Running doesn't solve anything. It's better to deal with your problems head on." I tried not to think of how much of a hypocrite I was for saying this to her. How could she believe that it was best to do something a certain way when I didn't set a good example and do it the same way myself? The question firmed my resolve to speak to George as soon as possible. Winnie sighed.

"Mommy said that as well. I won't do it again. And I'll apologize to Mommy. I promise" she said. I hugged her tighter and rested my cheek on top of her head.

"Good girl. Now how about we make something to eat? The hospital food wasn't very nice was it?" Winnie giggled and shook her head. She got off my lap and we headed to the kitchen. Half an hour later a rumbled looking Hermione joined us just in time for soup and toasted sandwiches. The instant Winnie saw her mother she ran to her and threw her arms around her waist.

"I'm sorry for running away Mommy. Sorry for scaring you" she said against Hermione's stomach. Hermione looked down in surprise then crouched down and took her daughter into her arms.

"It's ok now love because you're not hurt anymore, but don't you ever do it again ok? You gave me such a scare. It was horrible." Winnie shuddered and nodded, burying her face in her mother's neck. I watched as Hermione sighed in relief and hugged her tightly, love overflowing her eyes, then drew her back and looked at her sternly.

"You do know that what Katie said isn't true don't you Winnie? It's not true at all. I love you, Tabitha Winifred Rosalyn Granger, more than you can ever possibly imagine and I wouldn't wish you out of existence for anything. Katie didn't have a clue about what she was talking about."

Winnie stared into Hermione's eyes and the last little bit of doubt that I hadn't even known was still playing on her mind melted out of her. With a small sob, she threw her arms around Hermione again. Hermione closed her eyes and hugged her close, relief pumping from her pores. They stayed like that until the door that led down to the shop opened and Fred stepped into the kitchen. He smiled as he saw his daughter in her mother's arms.

"Fred! Hi! Did you come to have lunch with us?" Winnie asked as she pulled away from Hermione and got up at the table. Fred laughed.

"Well no, but if I'm invited…" he said and raised his eyebrows at Hermione in question. She looked at him, glanced at Winnie and then looked at him again. She took a deep breath and then slowly nodded. Fred's blue eyes widened at the look in Hermione's chocolate ones. Hope filled his expression and he looked at Hermione eagerly. Hermione gave a small smile and nodded again and the grin that split across Fred's face was biggest I've ever seen. As Fred sat down at the table with an ecstatic look on his face, I placed a bowl of soup in front of him and grinned at him. They were going to tell her. I just knew it. He smiled hugely back and then took a deep breath and turned to Winnie. Hermione looked at her daughter as well.

"Speaking of what Katie said love, we have something we need to tell you" she said. Winnie looked at her expectantly. I sat down on the other side of the table and Hermione cleared her throat.

"What Katie said about your father-"

"That he's a bad man?" Winnie said quietly. Hermione shook her head.

"No not that-"

"He's not a bad man?" Winnie asked confused. "But she said-"

"No love that man is, but that man… he isn't your father. I thought he was but it turns out he isn't." Winnie froze for a second, her eyes wide.

"He isn't?" she whispered and Hermione shook her head again. "So I'm _really_ not going to turn out like him?" she asked, joy bubbling in her voice. Hermione got out of her chair and crouched down in front of Winnie.

"No honey you're not. But even if he really was you're father, you wouldn't have anyway. You too much of a good person and your aunt and I would have made sure you stayed that way." Winnie nodded and then frowned.

"Who's my daddy then? Don't I have one?" she asked and I saw Fred tense. Hermione laughed softly.

"Yes love, of course you have a father. One who loves you very much and wants to be a part of your life" she said. I could see the excitement beginning to form in Winnie's eyes, mixing in with the confusion.

"Who is it then?" she demanded. Fred cleared his throat nervously. Hermione looked at him and nodded, indicating that he could take it from here.

"Winnie?" he said softly and she turned to him. "Winnie love… ah, well… I'm your father honey" he said. Winnie stared at him.

"You're my daddy?" she asked in a small voice and Fred swallowed and nodded. She turned to look at her mother.

"He really is Winnie. We thought the other man was but it turns out that you were created before he even came into the picture." Winnie looked at me and I nodded and smiled at her. She took a deep breath, clenched her fists and looked a Fred again.

"You're my daddy" she stated, staring at him. He smiled at her hesitantly.

"Yes Winnie I am. Are… ah, are you happy about that?" he asked in a slightly shaking voice. Hermione and I held our breaths. Winnie continued to stare at him for a second before a bright smile broke across her face and she threw herself out of her chair and into Fred's arms. He grunted from the impact and then laughed and clutched her tightly.

"Well I guess that answers that question" I said to Hermione with a laugh of my own. She grinned at me.

"You're my daddy" Winnie breathed into his chest. She hung onto him and Fred closed his eyes in relief.

"Can I call you that? Can I call you Daddy?" Winnie asked, her voice stilled muffled by his chest. Fred froze and then groaned and buried his face into Winnie's hair.

"Sweet Merlin Winnie, nothing would make me happier" he whispered roughly, his voice breaking slightly on his words. Winnie sighed and he pulled her closer, only looking up when he heard Hermione sniff. She was smiling widely at her daughter in her father's arms. He gave her a soft smile in return, reached out around Winnie and brushed away a tear that was running down her cheek. Winnie finally pulled out of Fred's arms and Hermione held out her arms to her. Winnie laughed and rushed straight into them. Deciding that this was a good time to give them some privacy, I started to get up and leave the room. As soon as I moved though, Hermione's head came up.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, causing Winnie to look at me as well. I shrugged.

"Was just going to give you guys some time alone as a family" I said and Hermione frowned.

"Then why are you going? You're still part of the family Rosie. Fred's addition doesn't change that" she said before glancing at Fred. Fred was grinning at her, incredibly happy she had included him in her family. She raised an eyebrow at him and he quickly nodded and looked at me.

"Of course you are Rosie. You've been part of my daughter's-" Winnie giggled and grinned at this. Fred grinned back at her.

"-My daughter's life from the very beginning. Nothing is going to change now. So sit your ass back down woman!"

"Fred! Language!" Hermione scolded while Winnie giggled again. Fred smiled sheepishly.

"Oopps. Sorry Mione. Forgot about the tiny person in the room. Guess I'll have to be more careful from now on" he said with a grin. Hermione sniffed at him. Winnie's gaze switched between her mother and father, her eyes brightened and she turned to Fred.

"Are you and Mommy going to get married now Daddy?" Winnie asked in excitement, causing all of the adults in the room to freeze. Fred cleared his throat.

"Ah… well I would like to Winnie but that's up to your mother" he said to her before looking at Hermione. Hermione frowned at him.

"Fred and I need to talk about that love. Now finish your lunch and then I really do think it's time for you to take a nap since you didn't have one earlier." Winnie pouted and opened her mouth to argue but Hermione held up her hand to silence her.

"You only just came out of the hospital Winnie. You need rest. It'll help you get better faster and if I think you're feeling up to it tomorrow, maybe then you can go to school." Winnie eyes widened in excitement and she hurriedly finished her lunch before bolting to her room, Hermione right behind her. I chuckled to myself. She looked ready to go to school tomorrow to me. Fred watched his daughter running around with a surprised look on his face.

"She _wants_ to go to school?" he asked in amazement. I laughed and nodded.

"She's Hermione's daughter Fred, what did you expect? She loves school. Plus Victoire and Teddy will be there" I said and Fred shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak again when Winnie came running out of her room and nearly bowled him over.

"You'll still be here when I get up won't you?" she asked and Fred smiled at her softly and nodded. She grinned at him and took off to her room again.

"She is amazing" Fred whispered in awe and I chuckled and slapped his shoulder.

"She most definitely is Fredster" I said with a grin.

Hermione came out of Winnie's room a couple of minutes later and scowled at Fred. He sighed

"What? What did I do now?" he asked in frustration. Hermione scowled further.

"You basically told her that if we didn't get married, it would be my fault! She'll blame me if we don't! She'll want to know why I don't want you here!" Fred groaned and glared at her. I backed away, wanting to give them as much privacy as possible. I wasn't leaving though. Nothing would make me miss this conversation. Not if it was going to turn out the way I was hoping it would.

"It would be your fault! I've already asked you and you didn't give me an answer! Feel like giving me one now? Or do you not want to marry me?" Hermione threw up her hands in frustration.

"Of course I do Fred! I love you! But it would be nice if you actually did ask me!" she said. Fred frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I did ask you! At the hospital remember?" he said and Hermione groaned.

"That bloody well wasn't a question! That was you telling me what you thought we should do! And for _sensible_ reasons as well! I don't want sensible Fred! I want an actual proposal from someone who wants to marry me because he loves me!"

As Fred stared at Hermione, completely flabbergasted, I glanced at Winnie's door. I sighed in relief when I didn't see or hear any movement indicating that she was awake. Thankfully Winnie was quite a deep sleeper so Fred and Hermione's argument wasn't likely to wake her up.

"What? Of course I want to marry you because I love you! If I hadn't found out that Winnie was mine, I still would have asked you Hermione. It probably would have just been down the road a little that's all. Now we don't have to wait. We have a reason to get married now!" Hermione blanched slightly and looked away from him.

"So loving me isn't reason enough to marry me now? Why not? Do you not love me enough?"

"Bloody hell Hermione, of course I love you enough! I don't have strong enough words to describe how much I love you! It was you that wanted to take things slow! I would have proposed to you the instant we got back together if you hadn't said that! Hell I was going to propose to you seven years ago but I never got the chance!"

Hermione froze in shock at this and even my mouth fell open. Well he'd been holding that one close to his chest hadn't he? I hadn't had a clue and going be Hermione's expression, neither had she. She blinked a couple of times and Fred folded his arms and stared at her expectantly

"Umm… you were?" she gasped at him. He nodded.

"Yes I was. I had planned on doing it once I was well enough to get down on one knee and be able to get back up again. But you left, taking away a child that turned out to be mine might I add, so it didn't happen."

Hermione stared at him and her expression softened before filling with guilt.

"Oh Fred, I'm so sorry for doing that!" she cried softly and Fred shook his head and sighed.

"No I'm sorry for bringing it up. I've forgiving you for it, not that was much to forgive. Not after what you went through and the state you must have been in at the time. But never doubt how much I love you Hermione. You and now Winnie as well, are my everything. I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I only wanted to marry you because of her. I don't. I want to marry you because I love you. In fact…"

Fred then did the one thing I'd been hoping he would do ever since we got back. He took Hermione's hand and got down on one knee. He took a deep breath and looked up at Hermione, who was looking down at him in astonishment and the beginnings of joy.

"Hermione Jean Granger, you are the love of my life. My one and only. There will never be anyone else who could compare to you and I would never want there to be. Please say you'll make me the most blessed and happy man on the planet and be my wife?"

Hermione stared at him with her mouth open for so long that I could see Fred was starting to get nervous. She then seemed to come to her senses and slowly a grin broke across her face.

"Now that's a proposal! Of course I'll marry you Fred! I love you too much not to!" she said laughing and Fred leapt to his feet with a whoop, took her into his arms and spun her around. He then proceeded to kiss her as if nothing else in the world mattered apart from the two of them. The kiss went on for so long that I thought they were going to faint from lack of oxygen. I cleared my throat and then with a laugh had to do it again, louder this time. The sound finally got through to them and the broke apart, both of them grinning at me sheepishly.

"So I guess congratulations are in order" I said with a wide smile. Hermione smiled happily back and with another laugh I rushed over and threw my arms around her, hugging her hard. I then did the same to Fred.

"Congratulations, both of you! Bloody hell, it's about damn time!" I said and they laughed.

"Mommy? Daddy? What's going on?" a small voice said from behind us and we spun around. Winnie stood in her doorway rubbing her eyes tiredly. Guess she wasn't as deeply asleep as I'd thought. Fred took a deep breath, looked at Hermione who nodded in encouragement and crouched down in front of his daughter.

"Winnie? You know that question you asked me before? About if your mum and I were going to get married?" Winnie nodded. "Well I just asked her so yes, we are love. We're getting married and the three of us are going to be a family. Or four of us should I say" he said with a smile at me. Winnie's mouth fell open and she gasped and threw her arms around Fred's neck.

"Yay! Yay, yay, yay! We're getting married! We're getting married! Aunt Rosie, we're getting married!" she yelled, pulling away from her father and running over to me, jumping up and down in excitement.

"So it seems Tabby Cat." I said, grinning at her. As Winnie ran over to hug her mother and I watched the new family celebrate their news, I sighed with happiness. This was the way it was supposed to be. Now I had to find a way to get my own life as happy as theirs. I frowned in determination. Or at least sorted out anyway.


	20. Chapter 20

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

**Quick A/N – Hi everyone! So a reviewer pointed out to me a mistake I made in chapter eighteen. Not sure if anyone else noticed it but if they did, sorry guys! Can't believe I forgot about it! I have worked it into the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next one. Oh and also, just thought I'd let you know that this story is almost complete. So to the people who want a bit more Rosie/George, don't worry, its coming! It has to lol. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites! Keep them coming! Now on with the story.**

Chapter Twenty.

"_So it seems Tabby Cat." I said, grinning at her. As Winnie ran over to hug her mother and I watched the new family celebrate their news, I sighed with happiness. This was the way it was supposed to be. Now I had to find a way to get my own life as happy as theirs. I frowned in determination. Or at least sorted out anyway. _

Over the next little while, I found that trying to sort my life out was going to be quite a bit harder than I thought it would be. For one thing, Fred and Hermione had decided that they didn't want to wait a long time to legally commit to each other. The very day the Fred proposed, they set a date. For the Sunday in two weeks time! Two weeks! I almost fell over when I heard that. Two weeks _really_ wasn't much time to plan a wedding. But the couple were adamant. Fred didn't even want to wait that long. He would have been happy just to grab his family, kidnap an official and get it done right there on the spot. Hermione laughed when he said this, and said that yes she would be happy to do that as well, but she didn't think her parents would be overly ecstatic about it. She wanted to at least give them a little time to get used to the idea and to make plans to come over. Fred agreed eventually but only because it was her parents they were talking about. I didn't say anything. I knew that my aunt and uncle had to come to the wedding but I couldn't really say I was looking forward to it, not with the way things were between us. So two weeks it was.

Combining the frantic planning with Winnie's excitement about school, me working and Hermione still looking for a job, there wasn't really all that much spare time. And what little spare time I did find, George was making it next to impossible for me to get him alone so I could talk to him and apologize. It seems he was doing his very best to avoid me. This must have taken some doing on his part because with me being Hermione's maid of honour and him being Fred's best man, we were both pretty involved in the planning, and over the two weeks leading up to the wedding, we were around each other all the time. But he was somehow succeeding. We would start off being in a room full of people which most definitely wasn't the time to bring anything up, and as soon as the planning sessions were over he would very quickly make himself scarce. He also wasn't spending all that much time at the shop. Every time I found a couple of minutes to go down and try to talk to him, he wouldn't be there! Verity would always have a good excuse for his absences, the main one being the wedding and the things he had to do for it. It was incredibly frustrating. Even Fred was around more than George was and he was the groom! So those two weeks seemed to slip by very quickly and at no time during them did I get a chance to apologize to George. Or even talk to him about things not related to the wedding. It was getting to the stage that fretting over it was interrupting my sleep, and when I did manage to convince my eyes to close, I would have crazy dreams about me continuously chasing after an elusive red headed figure for the rest of my life. I must have been beginning to look terribly sleep deprived because Hermione began to take notice and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was starting to worry about me. This convinced me even more that I needed to somehow get George alone soon, because Hermione shouldn't have to be worrying about anything apart from her wedding to Fred. It also caused that small sensible voice in the back of my brain to wake up and try to get my attention again. George's avoidance of me confused me greatly. I knew what I had said had hurt him but this avoidance was a little extreme. Especially to what I thought had just been a bit of character defamation. I didn't think my words had hurt him so much that it would cause him not to want to be anywhere in my vicinity. Why was he reacting this way? He was acting as if his declaration of love had been true, which I knew couldn't be possible. Could it? I really needed to talk to him, but George, the infuriatingly sneaky little blighter, wasn't cooperating and before I knew it, it was two days before the wedding and we were all going to the Burrow for a combined family get together slash informal rehearsal. Everyone was going, including my aunt and uncle. Fred had applied for a Portkey to go pick them up and bring them straight to the Burrow. After the evening was over he would then take them to the hotel they would be staying at for the wedding and the week after it.

I could tell Winnie was disappointed at this. She had wanted them to stay with us but there just wasn't enough room. I had offered to move out for a couple of days so that they could stay here but Hermione wouldn't hear of it. She said that they would be perfectly comfortable at the hotel and there was no need for me to play the white knight. White knight? I wasn't playing the white knight. I just wanted to give her some time alone with her family. But when I told her this… well let's just say that she most definitely did not like me saying that. She yelled at me ten minutes solid and then gave me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. Even Winnie noticed. She came around eventually though, she had to, it wouldn't have been a good look to have the bride furious with her maid of honour on her wedding day. But she told me that if I ever said anything like that again she would never speak to me again. Anyway, so we were all here at the Burrow waiting for Fred to come back with the Grangers. Winnie, Teddy, who Harry and Ginny had picked up from his grandmother's house again, Victoire and James were all running around, pretending to duel each other with branches and Albus seemed to be having a conversation with a garden gnome. Their parents, plus Arthur and Molly, Ron and Luna, who had come back early from their honeymoon, Percy, Charlie, who had actually been able to make it to his brother's wedding this time, George and I were all outside in the garden chatting and laughing. Well everyone else was chatting and laughing. I was just trying not to let everyone see how much I was dreading this. George wasn't saying much either. At least not to me anyway. He also seemed to be staying as far away from me as he could. Damn it. I had just stood up to go check on the kids when there was a loud _crack_ and Fred and the Grangers appeared in the garden.

"Grandma! Granddad!" Winnie shrieked and hurtled herself into her grandparents arms. They hugged her tightly before turning to their daughter and hugging her as well. She smiled at them before she came over to me with a determined look in her eyes and dragged me forward. I swallowed when their indifferent gazes turned to me.

"Hello Rosalyn. How are you?" Aunt Jean asked me and her ridiculously polite tone was like a shaft of ice straight to my heart. I closed my eyes for a second, opening them again when I felt Hermione rub my back in comfort. I took a deep breath and stared into the eyes of the two people whom up until seven years ago, I had considered my parents.

"I'm fine Jean. And you?" I said in return. "I take it you didn't find the trip too disconcerting?"

"It was fine" she said and I nodded and turned to Uncle Richard.

"You're well Richard?" I asked and he nodded.

"As well as can be expected when I hear that my only daughter is settling down" he said with a wink at Hermione and this time I couldn't stop my painful breath in. His only daughter. He had once considered me his daughter as much as Hermione. But that was the key word. Had. But I wasn't anymore because to them I never had been. Or ever would be. Hearing my reaction, Hermione gritted her teeth and scowled at her parents. I met her eyes and shook my head at her. It was no use her saying anything. It would just upset them and throw a damper on the whole evening. She frowned in frustration and then sighed. I nodded my head at the others, indicating that she should introduce everyone and once she took her parents hands and drew them forward, I quickly stepped back. I hoped that the others hadn't noticed how wrong that scene had been, but judging by the confused frowns that I was seeing on multiple faces, I was out of luck. Even George was staring at me with a frown on his face. They wouldn't bring it up though, not until the evening was over. Molly led Aunt Jean and Uncle Richard over to the picnic tables and sat them down before heading into the house to get the food ready. And that was the way the rest of the evening proceeded. Winnie divided her time between her grandparents, both sets, as she found her new grandparents fascinating, her parents and her friends. My aunt and uncle were warm and loving to Hermione and Winnie but polite and slightly reserved to everyone else, me included. Well they were more than slightly reserved to me. I had done a few things when we had first found them that they hadn't approved of and instead of taking their side, Hermione had agreed with me. Because of that they now thought that I was a bad influence on their daughter and granddaughter and really didn't want me to be part of their lives. Hence why for them, our relationship would never progress past the polite stage, and no amount of pleading from Hermione could get them to change their minds. I had accepted this. Well as much as I possibly could. But it still hurt when they treated me like a stranger, and an unwelcome one at that. To me the evening crawled as slowly as a drunken sloth but eventually the Grangers began looking at their watchers and Fred took this as the signal it was meant to be. With a final hug for Winnie and a kiss on the cheek for Hermione, they departed. The instant they left, I sighed in relief and sagged back into the couch in the living room where we had all ended up. Hermione immediately sat down beside me and put her arm around my shoulder.

"Teddy, why don't you show Winnie her father's old bedroom?" Hermione suggested and filled with the prospect of maybe finding something of interest in the twin's old room, Victoire, Teddy and Winnie whooped in excitement and ran out of the room. James and Albus were already asleep in Ron's old room, James fighting it as long as he could. As soon as the children left the room, Harry turned to me.

"Ok what the bloody hell was that all about?" he demanded with a frown. I sighed and rubbed my face tiredly. I was just about to answer when Fred appeared again and he as well turned to me.

"What's going on Rosie? You're not fighting with your aunt and uncle are you?" he asked, unknowingly echoing Harry. By then everyone was looking at me, George included. If I hadn't felt so horrible I would have cheered. He was actually looking at me! Paying attention to me! I looked away from them and met Hermione's eyes pleadingly. I didn't want to talk about this. She sucked in a breath and turned to the others.

"You know how we said we went to Australia to find my parents? Well obviously we did find them but returning their memories was a lot harder than taking them away had been. We did manage it eventually but, well, there were consequences. We couldn't return their full memory. They still kept parts of the old one that we used to replace the original and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't reverse it."

"What parts did they keep?" George asked in a quiet voice. My heart jumped at the sound of it. Hermione sighed.

"In the new memory, my aunt, Rosie's mother, still got married, but she never had a child. She and my uncle also never died when Rosie was three. My parents still believe that my aunt and uncle are alive and living happily in Paris. And because they believe this, they also believe that Rosie doesn't exist." A shocked gasp echoed through the room at Hermione's words.

"How can they believe that? She's right there!" Ron said in confusion and I stopped Hermione before she could answer. This was my story. If I couldn't get out of telling it, then telling it should be my responsibility.

"To them, they never had a niece who they adopted after her parents died. I never grew up with Hermione and I never went to Hogwarts with you lot. I wasn't a part of their lives at all. So at first they thought I didn't exist" I said, staring into the empty fire.

"At first?" George's voice came again. Seems he was quite interested in this little story. As I wondered why, the little voice in the back of my head began shouting at me again. I did my best to ignore it and carry on with the story.

"Yeah, I didn't exist to them at first but after a while, they decided that it wasn't that I didn't exist, it was that I shouldn't exist" I said quietly and everyone froze. Out of the corner of my eye I saw George's eyes turn very cold. Once again I did my best to ignore that little voice shouting at me that I should be paying attention to this.

"WHAT?" Ginny yelled angrily. "How could they think that!? That's horrible! And not at all true!" I laughed weakly.

"It was my own fault I guess. In the beginning, even though we couldn't convince them that I really was their niece-"

"And believe me, we tried" Hermione said.

"-they were at least open to getting to know me a little. But then I made a few suggestions that they didn't like at all and their willingness to know me flew straight out the window. Now they think I shouldn't be around Hermione and Winnie at all. Since they haven't had any success in convincing Hermione of this-"

"Damn straight they haven't" Hermione muttered.

"-they've had to accept that if they want to be a part of their granddaughters' life, they'll have to put up with me. They don't like it though."

"So that's why they're so terribly polite to you? That's wrong. You shouldn't have to go around calling your aunt and uncle by their first names" Fred said and I shrugged.

"That's the way it has to be. I've accepted it" I said and both Hermione and George snorted quietly. Damn voice. "Besides I'm lucky to be able to even call them that. They wanted me to call them Mr and Mrs Granger but Mione threw a hissy fit so they backed down."

"And so they should. Calling your aunt and uncle Mr and Mrs. It's preposterous!" Molly muttered. "You're sure you've tried everything?"

"Everything we could think of. In the end we had to give up on it though. It was getting to the stage where every spell we would try would just make things worse." Hermione said with an apologetic look at me. I smiled sadly at her.

"As I said, I've accepted it" I said. "There's nothing we can do about it. It's just the way things are."

"You shouldn't have had to though. They're your parents – the ones you grew up with. Something should be done." My head swung around and I gaped at George. He wasn't looking at me though, he was staring at his at hands, so I couldn't see his expression but judging from his tone of voice and the way his hands were clenched, he was rather pissed off. On my behalf. As the voice in my head got louder, demanding that I start seeing what was right in front of me, my heart leapt and I drew in a shuddering breath. He was angry on my behalf. Over something he couldn't fix. But what I heard under his words made it seem like he was going to try his best anyway. Things slowly began to line up in my head and I suddenly felt like a door had opened in my mind, which caused that small part of me to begin to cheer loudly. As shock washed over me, I closed my eyes and pushed those heart pounding considerations to the back of my mind. This wasn't the time to think about them. I would do that later in private.

"What suggestions did you make that they didn't like Rosie?" Ginny asked. "Oh I know. Winnie's name right?" I turned to her and nodded.

"Yeah there was that. There were a few other things as well, like me standing by Hermione when she decided not to tell them who Winnie's father was. Or who we thought it was at the time" I said with a grin at Fred, who grinned back. "But the main thing was when we decided to leave. It was my idea. Hermione was almost seven months pregnant and her parents wanted everything to be done a certain way, while Hermione wanted to do it her way."

"As she should, being the mother" Charlie said and Hermione smiled at him.

"The arguments that the three of them were having, as well as the giving in that Hermione was doing, which I didn't think was fair, were stressing Hermione out majorly. It wasn't healthy for her or the baby. And I didn't see things changing. So I made the suggestion that we leave, which after a lot of talking, we did. But now the Grangers will always see me as the person who took their daughter and granddaughter away from them."

"You didn't take me or Winnie away from them Rosie. It was my choice to go. Being there was hurting you as well and I couldn't stand to see you in so much pain. Leaving was for the best. They'll understand that one day" Hermione said. I wasn't so convinced though. Sometimes I thought that my aunt and uncle hated me and I didn't see that changing anytime in the near or even distant future.

The next two days were extremely busy. Things just seemed to keep popping up that needed to be dealt with right there and then, so I had absolutely no time to think about what I had started to realise at the Burrow. I was probably procrastinating as well. If what was slowly slipping into place in my head turned out to be true, that would mean that what I had said and done to George was even worse than I had originally thought. This really wasn't something I wanted to think about, so I didn't and before I knew it, I found myself walking down past the guests who were attending the small wedding and coming to a stop in front of the tree that grew over the lake at the Burrow. Winnie, who was already in position, was springing up and down in excitement, her flower girl dress a miniature copy of her mother's wedding dress. Hermione's, mine, the bridesmaids and Winnie's dresses were all works of art. The bridesmaids, Ginny and Luna, and I were all wearing very simple halter neck wrap around dresses that plunged at the front, were backless and fell to our knees. Hermione liked the wrap around style as you really couldn't go wrong with it. Luna and Ginny's dresses were an emerald green whereas mine was a deep forest green. But it was what happened to the fabric when the light caught it that made them spectacular. Hermione had performed a complex little charm on the dresses so that the colours seemed to twinkle and explode whenever we moved. We were most definitely a sight to behold. I grinned at Winnie as I got into position, who grinned back and I found my eyes being drawn over to where George was standing. I got a jolt when I found him staring back at me and an even bigger jolt when I read what was in his eyes. The depth of the emotion in them when he looked at me was almost implausible. I gasped and reeled back slightly. It was like everything that had been trying to come together in my head for the past couple of days just suddenly clicked into place. My gods, how could I possibly have missed this? How could I have possibly believed that he was lying to me? Well I did have an answer for that one. But it shouldn't have caused me to act the way I did… Oh Dear Sweet Merlin. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes. The way I acted. And what I said! Ok, don't fall apart now Rosie. You can talk to him later. You _will _talk to him later. I opened my eyes again and turned to where I knew Hermione and her father would appear at any minute.

And appear she did. She was… dazzling. Her dress was ivory white and v necked, fell straight down with a multi-tiered skirt and had a slight train. It clung to her in all the right places and looked amazing. Her hair was down in thick ringlets, one side of it clipped back behind her ear. She wasn't wearing a veil. She had never looked better and I quickly turned to see Fred's reaction. I wasn't disappointed. His mouth was open and his eyes were glazed and as Hermione walked towards him with a soft smile, he didn't look away from her for a single second. All throughout the ceremony, my eyes kept swinging over to George and then quickly flicking away again. I did it so often that he caught me a few times and by the time Hermione and Fred were pronounced man and wife, he was staring intently back at me with a small frown of confusion on his face. I looked away from him, determined to not get into this during Fred and Hermione's day. I wouldn't make a scene again. Even through the informal reception at the Leaky Cauldron, I tried my best to stay away from him, for the most part succeeded. I did have to dance with him once, as all of the wedding party was dancing with their counterparts, Lee Jordan with Ginny and Ron with Luna. I stared over his shoulder and did my best to not think about being in his arms. I refused to meet his eyes, knowing this would cause everything that was swirling madly in my head to come out. That is until he forced me to. George reached over and took a hold of my chin, turning my head to him. He frowned at me.

"Rosie? Are you alright? You're acting kind of… weird." I swallowed, pushed down all of my rampaging thoughts, took a deep breath and met his eyes.

"I'm fine George. I, ah, do have to talk to you though. It's really important" I said and then frowned at him. "I would have done it sooner if I'd been able to get a hold of you." George shifted guiltily and then sighed.

"It's ok Rosie, you don't need to apologize. I understand you know" he said quietly.

"That's not what I need to talk to you about. Well not just that. There's other stuff as well. Stuff I've just realised." George looked intrigued.

"So talk then" he said. "I'm not going anywhere at the moment."

"No, not here. I won't try to overshadow Hermione and Fred on their day. After everyone's gone, would you come up to the flat? We really need to talk." George stared into my eyes for a second and then slowly nodded. I sighed in relief. Thank you Godric. We would finally get this all sorted out. But once again, fate decided to grant me with the worst luck in the world.

We were standing outside the Leaky Cauldron wishing all of the stragglers goodbye when it happened. Hermione, Fred, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Luna were all standing in the doorway laughing and waving, George had volunteered to take an extremely intoxicated guest home and I was standing in the middle of the street, trying to stop another intoxicated guest from falling over. Percy, Molly, Arthur and Charlie had already headed home – Charlie was staying at the Burrow for a couple of weeks – and Winnie had already gone with Aunt Jean and Uncle Richard, who she would be staying with while her parents went on their honeymoon. I had just gotten the guest to his feet and sent him stumbling home when there were two corresponding _cracks_, the first one being George appearing behind me, the second one being a rough, dirty, insane looking wizard with his wand pointed straight at me. I didn't see him at first; my gaze was focused on the group of people across the street laughing at me. Hermione's scream alerted me though.

"ROSIE LOOK OUT!"

I followed her horrified gaze and spun around to face the gibbering, evil looking man standing five feet in front of me. I gasped and frantically searched my non-existent pockets for my wand, feeling horror wash over me when I remembered that I hadn't brought it with me. None of us had. We hadn't thought we would need to. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. As I stood there frozen in fear, something that would never have happened during the war, the man grinned insanely, opened his mouth and yelled something unintelligible. His wand flashed and I knew that there was no chance I would be able to get out of the way, even if I had been able to move. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth in preparation for the spell hitting me when I was suddenly thrown aside by a heavy object coming from my right. I hit the ground hard, and as Aurors Apperated in and quickly took the man into custody, I painfully crawled out from under whatever had hit me. I moaned aloud when I realised what, or should I say _who _it was. George was laying deathly still, his eyes closed and blood completely covering the right side of his head and face. I shook his shoulder desperately, becoming hysterical when I got no response.

"George! Wake up! Please George! Wake up!"

"George!"


	21. Chapter 21

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Twenty One.

_I hit the ground hard, and as Aurors Apperated in and quickly took the man into custody, I painfully crawled out from under whatever had hit me. I moaned aloud when I realised what, or should I say __**who**__ it was. George was laying deathly still, his eyes closed and blood completely covering the right side of his head and face. I shook his shoulder desperately, becoming hysterical when I got no response._

"_George! Wake up! Please George! Wake up!"_

"_George!"_

My panicked cries echoed around me as I continued to frantically shake George's shoulder. I was so caught up in trying to get him to open his eyes that I didn't hear the pounding of running feet until I was urgently pushed aside and Fred fell to his knees beside his brother, his eyes wide with fear.

"Georgie? Can you hear me? Why isn't he waking up? Come on Georgie! Ginny! Help him!" he said, his voice trembling. Ginny knelt down beside Fred, who had turned and was gripping Hermione to him desperately. She reached over and with slightly shaking fingers, felt for a pulse. Her shoulders sagged in relief and she threw Fred a small smile.

"He's alive Fred" she said and Fred closed his eyes and his shoulders slumped as well. Ginny bent over her brother again.

"It looks like he took the curse to his ear. That's where all the blood's coming from" she said. "It's not terribly deep. That part of the body bleeds a lot, that'll be why it looks worse than it is. He's unconscious because of the force the spell, though that shouldn't last long. We should get him back home though, so I can treat the wound." Fred nodded and lifted his unconscious brother into his arms.

"We'll go to our place then" he said and with a quick twist they were gone, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Luna hurriedly following. Hermione looked like she was about to follow when she suddenly turned to me. She frowned when she saw that I was still on the ground.

"Rosie are you alright?" she asked as she helped me to my feet. "Come on, we have to go." I trembled slightly and shook my head. Hermione frowned in confusion.

"What's wrong? George is going to be fine, but don't you want to see that for yourself?" she said and I avoided her eyes. Hermione huffed.

"What is it?" she demanded, scowling at me. I stared at the ground.

"He took a curse for me" I whispered and Hermione nodded.

"Yes he did and I'll be eternally grateful. He saved your life Rosie" she said. I trembled.

"He took a curse for me. It could have killed him. He almost died because of me. Why would him of Fred want me around after that?" I whispered again. To my surprise, Hermione snorted.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Rosie, stop being so bloody dramatic. He didn't almost die because of you. He got hurt because he loves you so much. And he didn't even get hurt that badly. Of course they're going to want you there. Now come on, they'll be wondering where we are by now" she said and before I could say anything else, she grabbed my arm and Apperated.

We landed in a crowded bedroom, Hermione still gripping my arm to help hold me up. She led me to a chair and as I sat down, my eyes were immediately drawn to the bed where George lay, Ginny moving her wand over the side of his head. Fred sat in a chair on the other side of the bed, holding his brothers hand, while Ron stood right behind him holding his wife in a death grip and Harry hovered around Ginny as she worked. George was still unconscious. Hermione walked over to her new husband who quickly grabbed her waist and pulled her into his lap.

"How is he?" she asked as Fred kissed the top of her head. Fred gave a small grin.

"Ginny said he'll be ok once he wakes up. Not sure how he's going to react to the same ear being blasted off again though, not after all the trouble he went through to get it regrown the first time" he said with a chuckle. As Hermione smiled at his happiness, I frowned in confusion. Of course I'd noticed that he'd had his ear regrown but I hadn't seen it as a big deal because it didn't matter a smidge to me. One ear, two ears, it made no difference. He was still George. I did wonder why he had done it though, as to me he had seemed happy to have only one ear. I just hadn't asked, as I didn't think it wasn't really my place to.

"Why did he get it regrown in the first place?" Hermione asked, unknowingly echoing my thoughts. "I thought he thought it was heroic battle scar. And how'd he do it anyway? It was cursed off last time, just the same as this time. I thought you couldn't heal or regrow parts that have been cursed off?" Hermione said with a puzzled frown. Fred grinned again.

"Yeah he was proud of it, but Mum just saw it as a constant reminder of painful times. He gave in to her eventually and went to St Mungo's to see if there was a way to grow it back. It took a lot of research and experimentation, but they managed to regrow his ear eventually. But it was a long and painful process and I think he regretted doing it afterwards. I don't think he'll do it again this time" he said. Ginny, who had finally stopped waving her wand and was now wrapping a bandage around George's head, looked at the couple.

"No he won't do it this time because they won't be able to grow it back this time. They only just barely managed to last time. They won't be able to overrule the dark magic again, not after being hit in the same spot with a dark curse twice. The residue will be too strong. He'll just have to put up with only having one ear once again" she said as she stepped away from the bed.

"You mean I'm going to be saint like again?" a voice groaned and George shifted around in the bed and opened his eyes. As I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my moan of relief, Fred barked a shocked laugh and squeezed his twins' hand.

"You're still running with that old joke Georgie? You've had years to think of a better one you know" he teased and George grinned tiredly.

"Why mess with a good thing?" he rasped "And I'll even take it all the way, just for you Freddie. So I'm holey then?" he asked with a wink at Ginny, who laughed at Fred's groan.

"Fraid so big brother. I'm sure you can deal with it though" she said and George gave another tired grin.

"Course I can. Makes me unique" George said in an upbeat, grinning voice, or as upbeat as one could be after they've taken a dark curse to the head. As Harry, Luna and Ron crowded closer to the bed; I drew my legs up under me and hugged my knees, trying to stop myself from shaking. He was ok. George was ok. He wasn't going to die. I shuddered as the thought that he could have ran through me. No, don't think that. He didn't die. He's only lost an ear again, that's all. No need to fall apart. I continued to tell myself that as my eyes stayed locked on the figure in the bed who was now hidden from my view. I was focusing so hard that George must have felt my gaze because as soon as Harry shifted out of the way he tensed minutely, lifted his eyes and captured mine. They then widened in surprise at he read what must have been in my gaze. As he frowned, Hermione looked in my direction, gave a small smirk and then turned and whispered in her husband's ear. He looked at me as well, grinned at his wife and then turned to the others.

"How about we let George rest now guys?" he suggested while lifting Hermione off his lap and getting to his feet. Hermione was still looking in my direction and noticing this, one by one everyone else turned to look at me as well. They then turned to look at George, who was still staring at me. As comprehension ran over many faces, I don't think I've ever seen a group of people leave a room so quickly. As the bedroom door closed behind them, leaving the two of us alone in the room, George smiled at me nervously as I stared at him. He pulled himself up in the bed until he was leaning back against the headboard.

"Rosie? Umm… hey. Ah, are you ok? That was a pretty hard fall" he said with a small frown. I slowly got to my feet and walked towards him. He continued to frown at me.

"You know, I weigh a bit more then you do so I wouldn't be surprised if you're more hurt then I am at the moment. Maybe you should get Ginny to check you-" I put my hand over his mouth to stop his rambling. He shut up immediately.

"You took a curse for me" I said quietly. George nodded, looking confused.

"Ah, yeah, I guess I did" he said. "Right in the ear too. I'm glad it ended up hitting there, I never really liked-" Once again I put my hand over his mouth.

"Why?" I asked softly, though I knew the reason. If there was any doubt left in my mind that George didn't love me, it was blown out the moment he took a dark curse meant for me. I just needed to hear him say it.

"I, ah, really don't want to talk about it Rosie" he said, looking away from me and shifting in the bed. I frowned, grabbed his hands and squeezed them. George's head came up the moment I touched him.

"Why George?" I asked desperately and he stared into my eyes. After a second he sighed and looked away again.

"Because I love you Rosie" he said and then yelped in surprise as I began to furiously slap his arms and chest.

"What the? Hey! Rosie what… Ow! Stop it that hurts! You're meant to be a pacifist! Hey I'm injured here woman!" he cried as he tried to keep me at bay.

"You stupid foolish arrogant prat!" I snarled at him. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could have died George! You could have… Oh Gods" I moaned. I stopped trying to beat George up, put my hands over my face and sunk down onto the floor. Tears poured down my face and my body began to shake with my sobs. Through my breakdown, I heard George softly cry my name, confusion ripe in his voice. I also heard the bed squeak as he got out of bed, and I had just enough time to think vaguely that he shouldn't be getting up just yet before he got down beside me and tried to take me into his arms. As his arms came around me, I jumped and hissed slightly in pain, which in his panic George didn't notice.

"Rosie what's wrong? I don't understand. Please honey, tell me what's wrong. I hate seeing you like this!" he said, his voice fraught with emotion. I jerked back and glared at him through my tears.

"What's wrong? _What's wrong?_ You bloody well decide to be the biggest Gryffindor on the planet and you ask me what's wrong? You almost died today George! You almost made me watch the man I love leave me forever and _you ask me what's wrong?_" George froze.

"What did you just say?" he whispered. I pursed my lips in annoyance.

"Don't try and change that subject, I-" George grabbed my shoulders and shook me gently, causing pain to run through me once again. I'd have to find out where that was coming from soon.

"Rosie please, _what did you just say?_" I sighed, pulled out of his clutching embrace and stood, taking a few deep calming breaths and wiping my cheeks.

"I said I love you George. I always have. From the first moment I met you on the Hogwarts Express, it's been you. It's only ever been you." George's mouth fell open and he stared at me for a full minute before his mouth snapped shut. He got to his feet and glowered at me.

"Why the bloody hell did you sleep with Malfoy for then?!" he exploded. "Do you have any idea how that made me feel when I found out about that? And if you love me, why did you insist that I was lying when I told you the same thing? _Why did you accuse me of trying to use the word to get you to sleep with me?"_ I groaned and sat down on the bed, patting the space beside me to get him to sit as well. He ignored my gesture and continued to glare at me. I sighed.

"Please George; you've only just woken up from being knocked out. And you lost a lot of blood. Sit down." I pleaded quietly. After a minute's stubbornness, George finally gave in and sat beside me. I turned towards him, folding my legs up under me and took his hands.

"George I'm really sorry I accused you of that. I didn't believe it, not for a second. I was just scared that you would get me to cave and admit that I loved you and had for forever. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me. So I said the first thing that came to mind that would get you to drop the subject." George frowned.

"Why would you think I'd feel sorry for you? I'd just told you that I loved you Rosie! If you loved me as well, I'd have thought that would make you happy! Instead you told me I was lying!"

"That's because I really did believe that you were lying. It's only been over the past couple of days that I've come to realise that what you said was true. You were having too many unusual reactions for me to continue to believe that you didn't anymore." George looked confused.

"But why would you think I was lying in the first place?" I tensed. Here came the hard part. George may love me now but he certainly hadn't years ago and reminding him of that would be awkward for him and hurt the hell out of me. I didn't have a choice though so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and meeting his baffled gaze.

"Do you remember the summer between my fourth and fifth year, your sixth and seventh? When we were staying at Grimmauld Place?" George nodded, still frowning in confusion. "Well I, ah, heard something that summer that convinced me that you would never feel the say way I did. I've believed it ever since"

"What did you hear?" George demanded and I groaned silently. He was really going to make me say it?

"Something you said to Fred? About me?" I hinted, but George just continued to look confounded.

"For Merlin's sake Rosie, stop beating around the bush! I have no bloody idea what you're talking about!" George growled in frustration. I scowled at him.

"Of course you would forget something like that. Something that was that important to me meant nothing to you back then" I muttered bitterly and George threw up his hands.

"Rosie!"

"Ok fine then! You want to know what you said? I'll tell you! I was coming out of the bathroom that happened to be right next to your bedroom and I heard my name so I stopped to listen. I heard Fred ask you what you thought of me, and you know what you said George? You said that you didn't really have an opinion of me because I didn't mean enough to you to form one! But if you had to voice one, you would say that I was extremely dull, incredibly boring and when I wasn't putting you to sleep, I was annoying the shit out of you instead! You said that you didn't understand why _anyone_ would want to be around me, how on earth had Mione but up with me all these years, and you could only stand to be in my presence because you had to b-be!" My voice broke on the last word and I turned away from him and glared down at my hands, angrily wiping my cheeks.

"_What?_ Dear Gods Rosie, I'd never say that! I don't – I can't have…"

"But you did George. And it was your tone more than anything. It was almost as if my very presence disgusted you. You hated the thought of me" I whispered feverishly.

"_No!_ Rosie I would never-" My head came up and I glared at him.

"Are you calling me a liar now?" I asked furiously and George frantically shook his head.

"Of course not, you obviously believe what you're saying-" I growled. "-but there must be another explanation Rosie, because I was already in love with you back then! Well maybe not quite in love yet, but I very much well on my way to it and there was no way in hell I'd ever say anything like that about you! Unless… Oh Dear Godric. Tell me exactly Rosie. Was it the end of the summer when you overheard this?" I blinked at him and then frowned.

"What? Does it really matter when I overheard it? The point is that I heard it in the first place!"

"Yes it does bloody well matter Rosie! Now tell me! Was it the end of the summer?" I scowled at him. Merlin, our foreheads should be buried in wrinkles, the amount of frowning we've been doing lately.

"Fine! Yes it was the end of the summer! Two weeks before we left for school to be exact! Why does it matter?" George groaned and rubbed his face hard, wincing slightly as he hit his forgotten bandage.

"Well that explains it then. Rosie what you heard me say was a lie. A big fat all out lie. See Fred and I were working on something that summer. Something that was meant to revolutionise The Order if any of the members ever got caught. We called it, very simply, Lying Licorice." My mouth fell open and I stared at him.

"It was meant to do exactly what the name suggests. Make the eater the worlds most accomplished liar. We worked all summer on it and finally had some success towards the end of the summer. What you heard was one of our tests. Yes it made us fantastic liars, and it destroys me to know how well you found that out, but the problem we couldn't solve was that we couldn't seem to stop the lying. It became so extreme that the person conducting the test even began to believe the person eating the licorice. It kind of began to creep us out. So even though we were making it for The Order, we decided to put it aside and come back to it later. But we got sidetracked at school that year so we never did. I'm so very very sorry you had to hear that Rosie. And to believe it all these years… please just know that it was never true. _Never_. Even if I didn't feel this way about you, if I only did think of you as a friend, I would never say anything like that about you."

I gaped at him. He stared back at me earnestly and I was able to read the truth in his incredible blue eyes. He didn't hate me. He had _never _hated me! My mouth stretched into a wide smile and I was about to throw myself into his arms when something else ran through his eyes and he frowned.

"The summer between fourth and fifth year? And you and Malfoy… Rosie please tell me you didn't sleep with Malfoy because of something I said!" he pleaded. I quickly looked away. George groaned.

"I'm sorry George, but what you said really hurt me and made me feel really unwanted and unloved and I was feeling really vulnerable and Draco just said all the right things! Plus the day it happened, I just happened to see you kissing Angelina Johnson which didn't really help matters!" George snarled.

"That flaming git! Gods I'm going to kill him! To take advantage of you that way! And I wasn't kissing Angelina, she was kissing me! I broke up with her at the end of sixth year because I was starting to have feelings for you and I didn't want to hurt her. She just wouldn't get the message!" I groaned and rubbed my face.

"Merlin we're a mess aren't we?" I said with a short laugh. George grinned and ran his hand through his shaggy red hair.

"Correction my dear Rosie. We used to be. Now is there anything else we need to sort out right at this very moment?" I frowned, thought for a minute and then shook my head.

"Great! Because guess what Rosie?" I laughed at his exuberance.

"What George?"

"I'm going to kiss you now" he said and without giving me a chance to say another word, he reached over and tugged me into his lap, framed my face with his hands and crushed his lips to mine. I stilled in surprise for half a second but then the warmth of his hands on my cheeks and the heat of his lips brought me to my senses. My hands found their way into his hair and as his lips moved over mine and I began to kiss him back, fire seemed to spread out from the connection of our lips, running swiftly through my blood and heating me from the inside out. I'd never felt anything like this before. Even Draco's kisses hadn't affected me this way. It was like a furnace was burning hotly inside me; causing my blood to pound and my head to spin and this overwhelming sensation became substantially worse the moment George ran his tongue over my bottom lip. Needing no further encouragement, I opened my mouth and the instant his tongue touched mine, I moaned loudly and tried to crawl even closer to him. I felt George smirk into the kiss at this, but at the moment I didn't really care because he had just turned his head and was diving back into my mouth. Our tongues duelled each other, and at the back of my mind I dizzily thought that I had no idea I could be such as active participant in a kiss, before George changed the angle again and I immediately stopped thinking. But even though his lips tasted wonderful and felt amazing and I really didn't want this to end, I was fast running out of oxygen. Just as I was beginning to pull away, George removed one hand from my cheek and ran it down my back. I yelped and hissed in pain and this time George noticed. He pulled away from me and frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice rough and his cheeks flushed. I shrugged and then wished I hadn't.

"I think I may have hit the ground pretty hard. My back's a bit ah, tender" I said, a little surprised at how rough my voice was well. George's eyes widened and before I knew it he had spun me around. There was dead silence for a moment then –

"Bloody hell Rosie" he whispered, anger quickly invading his voice. "Why didn't you tell me it was like this?" I frowned.

"Like what?" I asked. George quickly got off the bed and dragged me into the bathroom and over to the mirror.

"Like _this!_" he growled and when I looked over my shoulder my eyes nearly popped out of my head. My back was almost completely covered in large streaks of dried blood, as well as a few fresh oozes. Wow. I hadn't even noticed the pain. Well not all that much anyway.

"But of course your back would end up like this! You hit the concrete pavement in next to nothing!" I turned my head and glared at him. "Not that you don't look bloody fantastic in it" he said quickly and as I watched, his eyes darkened and he stared at me almost hungrily. I shivered and George shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Ah, ok. Well, umm yeah, you do look great in it but it gave you no protection at all. It's backless for Godric's sake" he said. He pulled me back into the bedroom and stuck his head out the door.

"GINNY!" he bellowed and I cringed.

"George that'll make everyone come running! I'm fine; it's only a few scratches!" George shook his head stubbornly.

"A few? That's not a few Rosie! That's a bloody army of them! You will let my sister heal you and you won't argue, understand?" I folded my arms and glared at him. He sighed.

"Please Rosie? For me?" he whispered, raising his hand to my cheek. I defiance crumbled in the face of his pleading. This was the man who didn't like to see a simple bruise mar my skin for Merlin's sake. I should have expected him to react this way. So I nodded and George smiled and gave me a quick heart-warming kiss. As we waited for Ginny to turn up, and probably everyone else as well, George sent me a cheeky grin.

"So. Am I a better kisser then Malfoy then?" he asked and I snorted.

"Wouldn't you like to know" I said and then laughed at George's pout. As the room was invaded by our family and George pointed out my back to Ginny, I sat down on the bed. George sat beside me and took my hand, a fact that was not missed by Hermione. She raised her eyebrows at me and I grinned back at her. Her smile should have cracked her face. I turned to George as Ginny began working on my back.

"George?" I said softly so the others wouldn't hear. He smiled at me.

"Yes my own?" he answered and my heart melted.

"You're a much better kisser then Draco ever was."

George grinned.

**Quick A/N – Just one more chapter to go folks!**


	22. Chapter 22 - Epilogue

To Love The Unwanted.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything apart from the plot, Rosie and Winnie

Chapter Twenty Two – Epilogue

_I turned to George as Ginny began working on my back._

"_George?" I said softly so the others wouldn't hear. He smiled at me._

"_Yes my own?" he answered and my heart melted._

"_You're a much better kisser then Draco ever was."_

_George grinned. _

_**Eight Months Later.**_

The sun shone brightly down on the crooked roof of the Burrow, and taking advantage of the amazing weather, the Weasley family and their add-ons milled around the garden, chatting, laughing and enjoying a butterbeer or two. Victoire, Teddy, James and Albus were all running around at top speed, screeching like hyenas, lost in their own imaginary world. As well as watching the insanely excited children, I was also keeping an eye out for my missing boyfriend. I snorted when that word crossed my mind. Boyfriend seemed so tame, so teenage for what George was to me. I couldn't think of a better word though and believe me, I've tried. Nothing seemed strong enough.

The past eight months have been the best of my life. I had no idea that I could ever be this happy. George and I had been together for three months when he asked me to move in with him. To a lot of people this may have seemed like we were moving very fast, but to us it was just the next step in a relationship that had been for me, thirteen years in the making. Our relationship hadn't been perfect though. We had our fair share of fights and arguments. Probably more than some but I really didn't mind. I didn't want perfect. And I _really _enjoyed the making up part of our fights! It made me wish that I hadn't been so prideful and stubborn all those years ago, and had just told George how I felt and what I had overheard because going by what we were like now, there was no way my first time would have been as bad as it had been with Draco. Hermione had thought that she was going to lose her voice? The first time with George I _did_ lose mine, and still do on multiple occasions, a fact that Hermione and Ginny find extremely funny when they come into Florish & Blotts and I have to serve them with a raspy squeak. I've taking to keeping a throat tonic on the bedside table now, which always causes George's face to light up in a smug smirk. Other times he is sweet and gentle which is just as good. I never told George how unpleasant my first time with Draco had been but he must picked up on it somehow because… well let's just say that he _always_ puts his best foot forward, no matter what mood he's in. Not that he has to try all that hard. I now understood what Hermione was talking about when she told me about her and Fred's first time. Being with someone you loved made all the difference. So the past eight months had been incredibly wonderful. I frowned. Though something had been off these past few weeks. George had been very secretive and almost shifty, keeping things to himself and staying out to all hours. At first I put it down to the honeymoon period being over, but our arguments had been a lot worse lately so I don't think it was just that. George was being very defensive. It was really starting to worry me. I loved George with all my heart and that would never change, and I knew George loved me but what's to say his feelings wouldn't change over time? He could fall out of love with me. Maybe he already had. I swallowed hard and quickly shook that distressing thought out of my head. If that happened then I would deal with it. It would crush me but I would deal with it. Now really wasn't the time to be thinking about it. Not today.

Not only was I watching out for George, I was also keeping an eye out for the birthday girl and her parents. Today was Winnie's seventh birthday and we were all celebrating it by throwing her a party. As the Burrow was the typical place we met for family get-togethers, we had decided to have the party there instead of the multitude of other houses we could have had it at. This included Hermione, Fred and Winnies home, Grimmauld Place. I still remember when Hermione told me that they were going to buy the place from Harry. It was a month or so after the couple had gotten back from their honeymoon and the four of us were still living together in the flat above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Though I loved both Fred and Hermione and had lived with Hermione my whole life, the situation was becoming a little difficult. Being newlyweds, Fred and Hermione wanted all the time together they could get, but with Winnie, the shop and Hermione's new position at The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, they weren't having much luck. Combine this with my burgeoning relationship with George and we were falling over each other far too much. Plus the things I would accidently walk in on when Hermione and Fred did manage to get some alone time would almost sear my eyeballs out. George and I had been walked in on a few times as well, though at that stage our activities hadn't been nearly as vivid. I knew that apart from George only having one ear, Fred and George were identical down to the last freckle, but I really didn't want to find out what George looked like before I had the chance to see it for myself! So I was kind of relieved when Hermione said that they'd talked to Harry about Grimmauld Place.

I had always vaguely wondered why Harry and Ginny chose to buy a completely new house in Hogsmeade when Harry had inherited his godfather's childhood home. And since I was trying to live a more open life instead of keeping everything to myself, the first time we had a family dinner after Fred and Hermione's wedding I decided to ask him. His answer was sort of what I'd been expecting. Even though Harry owned it now, having inherited it from Sirius after he died, there really hadn't been very many happy memories in the place. Sirius had a terrible upbringing in that house and he had hated the place, a sentiment he'd passed on to Harry. So every time Harry was there it reminded him too much of his dead godfather and all the pain that to him, lived in the house. He was thinking about selling the place anyway when he overheard Hermione and Fred talking about looking for a place of their own. Feeling that Sirius would approve if he kept it in the family, he and Ginny approached the couple with the idea. Unlike Harry, the place held no painful memories for them and it saved a lot of looking around. They already knew what it was like inside and Harry had promised them that all the dark material had long since been cleared out. The only thing left behind was the Black Family Tree. So after a short discussion, they decided to take him up on his offer. They even kept the Tree, with Bellatrix removed and Sirius and Regulus added back in as a tribute to the Black brothers. So they moved in and I had the flat to myself. It was weird being there by myself. Apart from the first three years of my life I'd never lived away from Hermione so it took a lot of getting used to. George liked it though. He of course did have a house of his own, mostly empty now that Fred had moved out, but the flat was more convenient being right above the shop. So we spent a lot more time there and now with Fred, Hermione and Winnie gone we had a lot more privacy. George took full advantage of that, spending most days when we both weren't working with me, which eventually led to him spending most nights as well. A month later he asked me to move in with him and when I said yes, we moved into his house since it was bigger and had a backyard for all of our nieces and nephews. Plus Charlie had just decided to become the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts, now that Hagrid had moved on to be with Madame Maxime and needed a place to live. Hagrid had offered his hut but Charlie hadn't wanted to live on the grounds. Said he really didn't want to live his job again. So I moved in with George and Charlie moved into the flat. Everything had worked out perfectly. Or at least I thought it had.

I was thankfully shaken from my dismal thoughts by the arrival of the birthday girl. I jumped up with a grin when Winnie, Fred and Hermione Apperated into the garden. The smile fell off my face when I saw who was with them. I hadn't known that my aunt and uncle were coming as well. My relationship with them was no better than it had been at the wedding. They still treated me like an unwanted stranger and tried to kill me with politeness. Not that their presence would have stopped me from being here though. Nothing would make me miss Winnie's birthday. But it did seem like George was going to. I scowled to myself. What was wrong with him? Winnie would be so disappointed. She loved her Uncle George. No, stop it. No thinking about that now. I made my way over to Winnie and with a giggle, she jumped into my out-stretched arms. Winnie was another thing I missed desperately. I saw every couple of days or so but it just wasn't the same. Not when I was used to seeing her every day for the first six years of her life.

"Aunt Rosie!" she squealed in my ear and I laughed.

"Happy birthday Tabby Cat! Having a good one so far?" Winnie nodded eagerly.

"The best! I got a broom Aunt Rosie! Daddy got me a broom!" I raised my eyebrows at Fred who grinned back at me.

"Oh did he now? Bet your mum was really happy about that" I said dryly and Hermione laughed and shrugged.

"Nothing I can do about it now can I, since he didn't actually tell me he was going to get it for her" Hermione said with a look at Fred. "Thankfully it's only a baby broom so it doesn't actually go very high."

"Where's Uncle George?" Winnie asked and I stilled slightly.

"He'll be here soon honey" I told her, really hoping I wasn't lying to her. He better be here soon. He'd hear from me if he wasn't. Winnie started wiggling in my arms so I put her down and she ran over to the other members of her family to receive her presents. I'd given her mine and George's gift the night before when I went over for tea because I couldn't resist her pleading anymore. She loved the full set of The Chronicles of Narnia books we chose for her. She would have loved to thank George as well but once more, he was busy and couldn't make it. As Winnie was surrounded by everyone, I turned to my aunt and uncle.

"Jean, Richard, how are you?" I said, ignoring the pain in my heart that being so polite to the people that raised me caused. They answered just as politely and then excused themselves and headed over to Winnie. I sighed and Hermione rubbed my shoulder.

"Sorry Rosie, we should have told you that they were coming" she said. I shook my head.

"No I just have to get used to it that's all" I said and Fred cleared his throat.

"I'll just go see if Mum needs a hand with anything" he said and hurried towards the house. Hermione frowned after him.

"He's been acting really weird lately. He's up to something, I can tell. But it's good he's gone anyway because I have something to tell you" she said and pulled me out of the garden and down to the lake. I looked at her in question. She laughed nervously and ran her hand through her hair.

"I just found out last night before we went to bed. I know I should be telling Fred first but I really wanted to tell you because you've been with me through everything. I felt right and I know Fred won't mind." I threw her a puzzled look.

"Mione what are you talking about?" Hermione took and deep breathe and grinned at me.

"I'm pregnant Rosie" she said and my mouth fell open in shock. I hadn't even known that they were trying!

"Oh Merlin Hermione, that's fantastic! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" I cried and threw my arms around her. "Winnie's going to have a little brother or sister!" Hermione laughed and hugged me back.

"It seems she is. This is quite different from the last time I told you I was pregnant isn't it?" I chuckled and let her go.

"I'll say. Last time you yelled it at me. So much has changed since then" I said and Hermione nodded and took my hands.

"Yeah it has and I really want to thank you Rosie. For not judging me and being there for me from the very beginning. And for eventually convincing me that it was time to face up to everything and go home. The amazing life I have now is thanks to you." I frowned at her.

"Hermione Jean Granger, you have absolutely nothing to thank me for! You're my sister and my best friend so there is no way I could have possibly not been there for you. Just as you've been there for me. Even if I hadn't tagged along with you when you left, I think you still would have ended up having the life you have now. It was destined" I said firmly. Hermione laughed and hugged me again.

"Now don't you think you better go tell your husband your wonderful news?" I suggested. Hermione smiled.

"No I think I'll give it a couple of hours yet. Let Winnie have her day first. Hey look, George is here" she said and I turned as I heard a distant _crack_ of Apperation. George took a quick look around, his eyes stopping briefly on me before moving on. I frowned. He'd been doing that a lot lately, not looking at me for any length of time. It wasn't alleviating my fears that he wanted out of this relationship. I suddenly straightened my spine and squared my shoulders. He didn't want me anymore? Then he bloody well was going to explain why. I really didn't want to cause a scene at Winnie's birthday, but I wasn't going to put up with this anymore. I was over keeping my feelings and fears to myself. Hermione read the expression on my face and frowned in concern.

"Hey is everything ok Rosie?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No it's not but if I have anything to say about it, it will be. Make sure you tell Fred soon ok? I need to talk to George" I said and stalked over to my unsuspecting boyfriend who had his head together with Fred's. I grabbed his arm and dragged him after me into the empty house, Molly having finally stopped cooking and joined everyone else. As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to George and folded my arms.

"We need to talk" I said in a flat voice. George met my eyes and then quickly looked down.

"Ah, Rosie, can't this wait? We're in the middle of a birthday party you know" he said. I scowled at him.

"Of course I know that George. But no, this can't wait. I've put this off for far too long. Something's wrong and you need to tell me what it is." George still hadn't met my gaze.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong" he said in a thoroughly unconvincing voice. I scoffed.

"Sure nothing's wrong. That's why all we do lately is argue. You're keeping something from me. You don't think I can tell? When's the last time you kissed me George? And I mean really kissed me, not just the peck on the cheek you give me every morning." George frowned and shifted his feet.

"I don't know what you're talking about Rosie. I'm not keeping anything from-"

"Then why won't you look at me?!" I cried and George's head shot up in shock. "Don't you love me anymore? Do you want out of this relationship?" George's mouth fell open and he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders.

"What? Of course I still love you! And no, I most definitely don't want out of this relationship! How can you think that?"

"Then why have you been acting this way? You won't look me in the eye, you won't tell me where you're going or what you're up to. You don't want to spend any time with me! And you just lied straight to my face because I _know_ you're hiding something! It's pretty obvious that your feelings have changed!" George growled in frustration and threw up his hands.

"Rosie I love you more than my own life and that is _never_ going to change! But you're not going to let this go are you?" he asked with a scowl. I shook my head helplessly.

"I need an explanation George. This is hurting too much." George drew in a sharp breath and then sagged in defeat.

"Fine. I really hadn't planned to do this now because I'm not sure if it'll work yet. But since you insist. You want to know what I've been up to lately? Well let me show you" he said with a sigh. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the garden again. Everyone was sitting at the picnic tables watching Winnie unwrap her presents. Fred looked up as we stepped into view and then slowly got to his feet. A silent conversation seemed to pass between the twins and Fred frowned.

"Now? Are you sure?" he asked and George nodded. By now we had the attention of all the other party guests.

"Haven't got a choice. _Someone's _jumped to all the wrong conclusions and won't take my word for it. It's now or never." Fred stared into his brother's eyes for a second and then he nodded. George turned to me.

"I really hope this works. I beg that you don't blame me too much if it doesn't" he said. As I frowned in confusion, George drew his wand, Fred copying him. They then proceeded to turn both their wands on my aunt and uncle. I gasped and jumped forward to try and stop whatever they planned on doing, Hermione doing exactly the same thing, but we weren't quick enough. Fred and George shouted something that sounded a lot like _Commemoro. _Their wands flashed and a spell shot out of each and hit Aunt Jean and Uncle Richard directly in the head, which promptly caused them to collapse.

"Fred!" Hermione cried in horror as she climbed over the table to her parents. I stared at George in disbelief as surprised shouts echoed around the garden and Winnie began to cry.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're playing at?" I shouted at George as I hurried over to my unconscious aunt and uncle. As Ginny instructed Harry and Ron to lay the couple down on the grass, Hermione and I crouched down beside them.

"What did you do?" Hermione snarled at her husband, who looked at her guiltily as he tried to calm his daughter down. George crouched down beside me and tried to take my hand but I pushed him away. I had no idea what he had done but I didn't like it one little bit. He opened his mouth, probably to explain, when the couple finally began to stir.

"Mum? Dad? Are you ok?" Hermione asked in strained voice. They coughed and blinked their eyes before sitting up.

"I think so. What was that?" Uncle Richard said before his eyes opened wide and he went still, his eyes blurring. Beside him, Aunt Jean did the same.

"Mum? Dad? What's wrong with them?" Hermione cried and Ginny shook her head.

"I don't think anything's wrong with them Hermione. I believe the spell that my stupid brothers unwisely cast was an obscure memory spell. Specifically a memory returning spell. It's an ancient one, one I definitely wouldn't have thought to use."

"That's why we thought it would work." George said quietly. "Hermione said that they tried everything they could think of. So we've spent the last eight months looking for spells they wouldn't think of. I found this one a couple of weeks ago." He turned to me.

"That's why I didn't tell you Rosie. I had no idea whether the spell would work or not and I didn't want to get your hopes up and then have them crushed if it didn't. So I had to keep it from you, which is one reason why I haven't spent all that much time with you recently. Keeping something this big from you was horrible and I found that not being around you made it easier to keep. I'm incredibly sorry for hurting you but please believe me; this hurt me just as much as it did you. I've missed you so much Rosie. But I had to do it. You need your aunt and uncle in your life. The other reason I haven't been around is because I wanted to research the spell as much as possible, which took up a lot of time. I didn't want to chance using it and it not working or maybe making things worse. Unfortunately today you didn't give leave me with much of a choice."

I stared at him silently for a minute before turning back to the still frozen couple. Well I had my explanation now. It was a pretty good one as well. But he had still hurt me and I wasn't quite ready to forgive him for that just yet. I heard George sigh beside me and I cringed slightly and was about to turn back to him, not able to take the pain I heard in his voice, when my aunt and uncle both suddenly started. Their eyes cleared and they shook their heads.

"Richard? Jean? Are you ok?" I said desperately. Both of them frowned at my words and a horrified look flew over my aunts' face. All of a sudden, for the first time in eight years, I found myself in my aunts' arms.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Rosie, my sweet sweet baby! I'm so sorry for the way I've been treating you! Can you ever forgive me? I love you so much Rosie. Please forgive me. Forgive us" she cried softly into my shoulder. As I felt her tears staining my neck, I moaned softy and shuddered. She'd called me Rosie. She hadn't done that in eight years. It was always Rosalyn and it had killed me every time they both said it. I should have been Rosie to them, not Rosalyn. And now once again, I was. Tears filled my eyes and I locked my arms around her as I gave in and long suppressed sobs shook me. Aunt Jean rocked me slightly as I cried, rubbing my back and murmuring nonsense in much the same way I had done with Winnie months ago. We stayed in each other's arms for a long time. I finally pulled away and sniffed, wiping my cheeks and looking over at Uncle Richard. He had tears in his eyes as well, which shocked me because he never showed his emotions. It was probably where I got it from. He reached over with shaking fingers and gently brushed my hair out of my eyes.

"You right there kid?" he asked in a gruff voice and I grinned and threw my arms around his neck. I gave him a hard hug before pulling away. Aunt Jean was still looking at me desperately. I laughed and grabbed her hand.

"There's nothing to forgive Aunt Jean" I said, incredibly happy to be able to use 'Aunt' again. "It wasn't something you could help so how can I blame you for it?" Aunt Jean stared at me and then sighed and sagged in relief. She then looked at her daughter, who was sitting beside us crying silently, and held out her arms. Hermione went into them willingly. As Uncle Richard rested his hand on my shoulder, I heard Hermione sigh.

"Finally. My family is truly back together" she murmured into her mother's shoulder.

As the party got back into full swing and Aunt Jean and Uncle Richard were exclaiming over Bill and Fleurs' new daughter Dominique, I sensed someone hovering behind me. Knowing who it was, I turned and walked back into the house, leaving him to follow me. I stopped when we got inside and I sensed him pause. He slowly came up behind me and tentatively wrapped his arms around me. I stayed tense in his hold.

"Rosie please forgive me" he whispered against my hair. "I hated hurting you but I couldn't avoid it. I love you so much Rosie. It's rather terrifying at times how much you mean to me." I continued to stand stiffly for a couple of minutes before I sighed and the tension left me. I turned in his arms and stared into his eyes.

"I swear George, if you ever pull something like this again I'll curse off a very important part of your anatomy. The only reason I'm giving in so easily is because it worked." George blanched slightly and then grinned.

"So you forgive me then?" he asked hopefully. I sighed and nodded.

"Yes of course I do, but only because I love you so much you bloody prat" I said and George laughed, leaned down and kissed me. It was everything I remembered it being, maybe even better. I sighed happily into his mouth, which George took full advantage of. His tongue caressed mine and I moaned softly, buried my hands into his hair and tried to tug him closer. George laughed softly and backed away from me. I pouted in disappointment.

"If we carry on like that we'll miss Winnie's party. Now I'm all for that my love, but I don't think your recently reacquired relatives would like it if I took you away from them. At least not yet" he said with a small grin. I continued to pout and he laughed. He took my hand and led me back outside.

"Later my own" he whispered in my ear and I scowled at him playfully.

"I'll hold you to that" I grumbled and he laughed again

"Oh please do. Hey what's that about?" he asked, nodding his head over towards the lake. I looked over and watched as Hermione took Fred's hand in hers and spoke to him. When she had finished he froze and then a wide smile broke across his face. His excited whoop was loud enough that we heard it, as we did Hermione's laughter when he picked her up and spun her around. I grinned.

"He'll tell you later I'm guessing. It's his news to share, not mine" I said and George frowned then shrugged. He put his arm around my shoulder as we headed over to the rest of our family. He then spoke casually, not even hinting at how important the next subject was.

"So I was thinking. Sometime in the near future, if I manage to scramble up and ring, got down on one knee and asked you to marry me, what do you think your answer will be?" I froze on the spot and George stopped beside me. After a second or two of stillness, I turned to him with a cheeky grin.

"Wouldn't you like to know" I said and laughed as he groaned. Silly man. As if he didn't already know what my answer to that would be.

**The End.**

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**A/N – Well that's it guys. Please leave me a review; I'd love to know what you all thought. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited or followed this story when it was in process. I really appreciated hearing from everyone. And to answer a guest reviewers question, I don't know if I'll be writing anything else soon. I have a couple of ideas but I'm not sure if I'll write them yet. I guess you'll just have to sign in and follow me to find out. ****;-) **


	23. Chapter 23 - Author Note (Sequel)

**Hi all!**

**Just thought I'd let you everyone know that I've put up a two-shot semi sequel to 'To Love The Unwanted'. It's called 'Taking The Plunge' and is about Rosie and George's wedding. The link's on my profile if you want to go check it out. Hope you all enjoy it and please let me know what you think! Cheers!**

**rlassie.**


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